I’m not a very wealthy woman, but my philosophy in life is “why leave it all to the kids?’ You need to enjoy now as much as you can, and you need to create as many memories as possible.
So a few years after I retired, and found my bearings as far as where to live, and finding a routine, I started trying to take the family on a great trip once a year.
Our first trip was an all inclusive in the Dominican Republic. After flying all 10 of us there I realized I nearly broke the bank and couldn’t do anything that exorbitant again, or the vacations would have to be once every 4 or 5 years.
Needless to say, it was a blast. Everything was paid for and the grandkids, who I was doing this mostly for, had the time of their lives. They are still talking about that vacation to this day.
Since then we’ve gone to Long Beach Island , Cape May, Diamond Beach and twice to Woodloch Pines in the Poconos. This past Christmas I took everyone to Woodloch Pines for the second time. I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing because now the grandkids were all older. The boys are both 19 and going to college and the girls are all 16. My kids did everything at almost the same time. They got married 6 weeks apart and had my 2 grandsons 4 months apart, and my twin girls (from my son) and one girl from my daughter are a week apart. Confusing, but true.
Anyway, I was worried that now that they were older this resort might not have enough for them to do. I rented a cabin on the property that had 5 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths. I signed up for 3 meals a day, knowing that teenagers are eating all day and didn’t want to deny them anything. Every morning I ordered breakfast for everyone to have in the cabin, so that the kids could sleep a little longer. Then the day would start. They rode bumper cars, went skeet shooting, went to the shooting range, played miniature golf, went swimming, went for walks and were busy all day. Too bad there was no snow because the resort had the facility for skiing and sledding too. In between we made time for lunch in the main dining room and every night also had dinner there. Then off we’d go to the main lounge for our nightly game of Bingo. Last time we were there one of my granddaughters won $667, and this time one of my grandsons won $180. Believe it or not, we also found time to play some of the board games my son in law had brought with him. I can still hear the laughter and shouting that went on every night playing those games.
All I can say is that I’m a very lucky woman. Not everyone can do this, but if you can, life is all about making memories. I want my grandkids to remember grandma, because as long as I’m in their hearts and minds I will never be gone. At the end of this vacation each one made a point of letting me know how much fun they had and how much they loved me – and that’s what it’s all about. We had the most wonderful vacations so far and I’m looking forward to hopefully having many more.