It worked: Aunt Ann WAS surprised ... and a tradition was born.
Later that year, when I was supporting projects in the Caribbean, I invited my mother and Aunt Grace to join me for a week in Puerto Rico. This time, I brought Elizabeth with me on the trip. And while I was in meetings during the week; the three of them toured the island ... shopped, took surfing lessons, and drank out of coconuts.
Last year, I took William with me to New York City, and once again - my mother and Aunt Grace joined us. Mom had on her bucket list to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge; and we did just that. They also attended a show on Broadway, went to the top of the Empire State Building, ate lunch at Tavern on the Green, were serenaded while riding the subway, took a boat to the Statue of Liberty, rode a horse drawn carriage through Central Park, ate a genuine NYC pie, and picked out their favorite diner with the best coffee in the city, by the end of the week.
This year, it was finally Henry's turn.
(Saying a prayer before we board: it's a ritual...)
Last week, I had a business meeting in South Carolina. Henry and I flew in the weekend prior, and were able to spend a few days with mom and Auntie, before the three of us drove down to Charleston for the week. Unfortunately, Auntie wasn't able to join us on this trip - as she was preparing for a separate trip to Greece.
While we really missed Auntie, we had a wonderful time with my mom - and as is par for the course - while I was in meetings - Henry and Noni toured the local sites including the aquarium, Fort(s) Sumter and Moultrie, the USS Yorktown, pirate dungeons, and the historic downtown. They would have also visited the first submarine, H.L. Hunley, but the exhibit was closed during the week, to which Henry said, "WHAT?! Well, Mom ... sounds like we have to come back when it's open!"
(Union artillery shells embedded in the walls of Fort Sumter...)
The crescent moon over a Palmetto, at Fort Moultrie (where, coincidentally, the theme of the crescent moon over the Palmetto on the state flag was first conceived).
After three days in Charleston, we drove north to Columbia, and while I was in more meetings - they toured the Riverbanks Zoo (where this video about gorillas avoiding the rain was filmed around the same time they were visiting!), and met bona fide southerners on the front lawn of the capital building, who were celebrating Confederate Memorial Day and remembering their ancestors. All of us received quite the history lesson, and were appreciative that the CSA impersonators didn't once balk at Henry's Boston t-shirt.
Henry missed a week of school to join me on this venture - but it was time very well spent. He arguably learned more about American History in a the span of five days, than he's learned in the past five months of school. Most importantly, he was able to spend one-on-one time with his grandmother and create memories that will last a lifetime.
(He also had a great time playing with his cousins on the beautiful yards at Aunt Grace's ...)
Chances are, I'll be taking an international business trip to Europe or Australia at some point over the next year. Carolyn is tickled to think it's her turn again - but Charlie has unequivocally told the children, it's now HIS turn - and he's already in the process of pulling together his wardrobe.
Yes. I think he'll be a fine traveling companion, indeed.
