Grandma's Star

Brad Ryan had been feeling low in 2015 when he went to visit his 85-year-old Grandma Joy. He’d hoped a little quality time would lift his spirits. But when his grandmother admitted she’d never seen a mountain or the ocean, Brad was heartbroken. Joy grew up in Duncan Falls, a two-traffic light town in Ohio. She’d worked a minimum wage job into her 80's, and driven to Central Florida every year with her husband, but they never went near the coast. Joy regretted not seeing more of the country. When Brad invited her to hike through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, she jumped at the chance. Since then, they’ve made it their goal to visit all 61 national parks. “Seeing it through my grandmother’s eyes, who every morning wakes up and is thankful to be alive, has taught me how to live,” Ryan says. “I want people to know: you aren’t too cool to hang out with your grandparents.”