Grandson Makes Up For Lost Time With Grandma And Takes Her To All National Parks In The US

Sep 16, 2022 by apost team

Nothing feels more heartwarming than a story of reconciliation between two family members who have been estranged for years — especially when one of them had the courage to apologize and take the extra leap to make up for lost time. That is exactly what Brad Ryan did for his Grandma, Joy Ryan. And now, thousands of people follow their inspiring journey. 

When he was a small kid, Brad spent most of his time with his paternal grandmother, who gave him attention like no other, while living with her in a place called Duncan Falls in Ohio. But more than the care he was getting from his grandmother, Brad enjoyed his grandmother's company. Simply put, the kind of bond Brad had with his grandmother was unparalleled. But it all changed when his parents went through a divorce that devastated him. 

For ten years, Brad didn't speak to his Grandma Joy. 

"It kind of ripped our family in two," he told TODAY in an interview in August 2019. "I didn't talk to her for ten years." "To have that relationship hijacked by my parents' divorce, it was something that I suppressed how deeply that affected me emotionally," he said. 

But when he saw his grandmother again in 2015, he found out that she was "very close to death." That made him realize that he did not want to live a life full of guilt when he had the chance to reach out to her and rebuild the connection between them but simply chose to ignore it. 

So Brad called up his Grandma. While he admitted it was awkward in the beginning, he knew it was the right thing to do. Brad was dealing with his own loss after his friend took his own life, while his granny lost her husband and two of her three sons. 

At that point, he was certain he wanted to create "something more beautiful" with his Grandma. Brad came up with the most exciting idea: take his granny out of the town she had lived in for more than 80 years and take her on an adventure of a lifetime. 

"For all those reasons, I needed to start from scratch and rebuild what was lost during that period of estrangement," he told FoxWeather. "I set out to try to save her from this small-town experience, what I considered a really gloom and doom way to spend your golden years sitting on the porch in the same town you've lived in 80-plus years," he added. 

While it may sound absurd to some, Brad viewed it in a different way. "The idea that she would just continue to sit on that front porch and continue to take that evening walk through a cemetery instead of being surrounded by the most wondrous living things on Earth was what I couldn't stand," Brad said. 

In 2015, they set out on an unforgettable journey that they never knew would inspire millions of people seven years later. They went on a quest to visit the 63 National Parks across the United States of America, with donors pouring in to help them achieve what seemed to be an impossible feat. He started chronicling their journey on social media, which paved the way to getting media attention which led to private donations. 

"This whole thing has been fueled by generosity," he told The Washington Post in an interview. 

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Grandma Joy's overall health improved along the way, resulting in her gaining more strength. In fact, people started telling her she looked younger and younger as time went by. 

"And as a result, she's gotten stronger," Ryan said. "And everybody who's followed us on social media every day, there's a comment that she looks younger now than she did when we started, and that's possible for anyone," he continued. 

Fast forward to 2022, Brad and her now 92-year-old Grandma Joy have seen almost all of them: from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to the Katmai National Park, name it, they have been there. Well, almost. Out of 63 National Parks, they have visited 62 so far. That leaves them with the National Park of American Samoa as the last one for them to tick off their bucket list. 

Meanwhile, Grandma Joy said she's happy she decided to leave her front porch and go out and see the world. "It's all the amazing things that I saw that I couldn't see from my front porch and all the amazing people that we met," Ryan said. 

But a part of Grandma Joy is also sad because not everyone gets the chance to witness the beauty the US National Parks have to offer. "I feel sorry for all these people that never get to go to one federal park because it's really beautiful. It just takes your breath away."

As to how she feels about their final stop, Grandma Joy said: "It will be a glad day and a sad day," Joy said.

"We'll start going to the state parks."

How do you feel about Brad and Joy Ryan's adventures? Were you inspired to spend time with your grandparents and take them on thrilling escapades? Let us know your thoughts, and pass this on to your grandparents!