Joy Ryan’s 90-year-old life was full of both happy and sad incidents.
But her family and loved ones always came first, and her own goals were put on hold until later.
Today, however, we will show you that you can live “to the fullest” at any age, not just in your youth!
Joy’s family was not well-off.
The woman worked in a store in Duncan Falls, where she had lived her entire life.
Joy had been on vacations with her husband and children before, but she had never seen the sea.
She became a widow twenty years ago when two of her three boys died at the age of forty.
Our heroine now spends the majority of her time in front of the television, watching various television programs, and she rarely sees her family.
When her adoring grandson came to see her, everything changed.
The guy met several avid tourists in college and was now talking about hiking in the Appalachians to his grandmother Joy.
His grandmother’s curiosity and sincere regret that she would never be able to visit such a wonderful place made his grandson think about it.
Since his grandmother was often ill, he wanted to be near her more and bring joyful moments into her pastime.
Joy was 85 at the time, but she jumped at the chance to be Brad’s companion.
Both of them were pleased by their visit to the Smoky Mountains National Park.
Despite their vast age gap, they got along swimmingly.
Joy was genuinely pleased with the new experience, and Brad realized that friendship and common interests do not depend on the number of years lived.
The grandson decided that the first trip should not be the last, because his grandmother has not seen much yet!
With his modest income, he couldn’t afford to spoil her, so Brad shared their story on a crowdfunding platform.
The guy told her that he wanted to show her all 61 national parks across America.
In the end, donations arrived, far exceeding their initial expectations.
In the comments, many regretted that they did not think to give their loved ones the same gift.
Now an experienced traveler Joy has already visited almost half of the country’s national parks and intends to see the rest.
By the way, Joy has already decided what she wants to do when she visits all the planned places.
She’s excited about the idea of skydiving.
