One Grandfather + Four Grandkids = Many Grandparent Adventures [Part 1]

Lizzie: Hi Mike! We’ve been looking forward to getting an update on you and your grandchildren and looking back at what you learned from taking them on Grandparent Adventures. I have a feeling this will inspire lots of other Grandparents.

Mike: Happy to! I have four grandchildren. The older ones are two granddaughters. Gwen is now 22 and just graduated from Stanford with a BS honors degree. She was co-captain of the sailing team, which won the national championship. Her younger sister is Evelyn, and she’s going into her junior year at Emory University, majoring in business and singing in an a cappella group. My oldest grandson, Theodore, is 19 and a budding astrophysicist at Carleton College, where he’s a sophomore and member of the swim team. I like to visit all of my grandchildren at college, because I like to see them in that setting — see the classrooms and get a feeling for the campus. If I live long enough, I’ll go visit Nathaniel, who’s 17 and will be a senior in high school this year and captain of his track team, at his college or university to see the world that he’s going to live in.

Lizzie: Let’s rewind a little. When’s the first time you took your grandchildren on a Road Scholar Grandparent program?

Mike: I waited until Gwen was 9 years old before I signed us up. We went on the Red Rocks & Rafting program on the Colorado River. I’d been to the Grand Canyon many times, but going with my granddaughter was a special experience. We even took a helicopter ride from the bottom of the canyon back up to the top after we floated down the river! After that, I took each grandchild individually on a different program. I took Evelyn, when she was 9 years old, on a program in the Tetons. I remember vividly one of the things we did on the program. We had a long bike ride — 18 miles — which was mostly downhill, but still, some of the grandparents and kids got tired and dropped out along the way. Little Evelyn made it all the way with me. And when we made it to the end, she got a nice round of applause from all the grandparents. That was a special time.

Lizzie: Each of your four grandkids got one-on-one time with you on a Road Scholar Grandparent Adventure?

Mike: Yes. I had lived in Pennsylvania back when I practiced law in Philadelphia, but I had never been to Gettysburg. So, it was a new learning experience for me to take Theodore on that program, and he was fascinated by the whole thing. Especially when we got in line to charge up the hill with everyone taking part in the reenactment.

Lizzie: From being on these Grandparent Adventures and talking to other grandparents, what was the experience like dealing with the logistics of getting grandkids to the starting point of a program?

Mike: I accompanied my own grandchildren on the plane when I could. I’d go to where they were and fly with them. But once or twice they traveled home on their own, with me putting them on a plane. I had enough confidence that the airline would see to their well-being. But I do recall a fair number of my colleague grandparents saying they would meet their child at some particular airport and then get their grandkid to the program. It always seemed to work out really well. Road Scholar’s learned a lot over the years about how to accommodate people and deal with these circumstances.

Lizzie: You also took some of your grandkids on programs together. Did you find that helped them to bond?

Mike: I specifically planned it that way. I didn’t take the sisters together and the brothers together. I would take one of the girls with their cousin. There was a significant age gap in some instances. I took Gwen, who was the oldest, with Nathanial, the youngest, on a Vancouver Island program in British Columbia. We did a lot of hiking, canoeing, rowing and rappelling down mountains. And even though there was a five-year difference between them, I think that helped bond the relationships, so that those kids are close even now. They’re comfortable with each other — the guys with the girls and the girls with the guys and their different ages.

Lizzie: It sounds like you’ve been an integral part of their lives.

Mike: Their parents did a good job of raising the kids and instilling values in them, but I held all of them, even when they were very tiny.

Lizzie: Grandparent Adventures also gave your grandkids a chance to see you outside of your usual environment. Do you think that influenced your relationship with them?

Mike: The relationships I have with each of my grandkids is an ongoing and evolving one, so it’s hard to separate out the Grandparent Adventures from that. But I think that the experience of a Road Scholar program is a bonding experience. They were young, they were there just with me instead of their parents, and they could see and feel that I would take care of them — do anything for them. That’s very personally rewarding, and I think it helped to give them a feeling of security and to know that I was always going to love them no matter what.

Lizzie: I think it’s wonderful that you get such a long period of quality time together with your grandchild on a Grandparent Adventure.

Mike: Yeah, you’re with your grandchild in all aspects — it’s pure time that becomes quality time. You’re with them at breakfast, during the day for the activities, lunch, dinner and bedtime. It’s a week without the parents saying “No, I don’t think you should do this,” or “You shouldn’t do that,” which gives you some freedom. It leads to the development of a special, deeper understanding because they depend upon you in a good way. Even just spending that time with them in the mundane parts of life, from brushing their teeth in the morning to tucking them in at night when they’re little — that all leads to a deep, personal relationship between the grandchild and grandparent. Certainly, I’ve gotten more out of it than they have. While it’s been great for them, it’s been really special for me. It’s given me a feeling of wonderment for their future and what they will be — imagining how their lives will go. It’s very heartwarming and inspirational. It’s a gift.

Lizzie: It has been a pleasure seeing Grandparent Adventures through your eyes, Mike.

Read Part 2 of our interview with Mike Zoob! Meanwhile, to see him in action with his grandkids back when they were young, press play on this heartwarming video.