Summer vacation time always brings back fond memories of travels and adventures with my grandparents, Jack and Lillian Briscoe, who I knew as PapaJack and Nanlil. Much like many of our grands, they were two of the people I admired most in my youth. Always happy, inseparable, and seldom angered, PapaJack and Nanlil knew how to live their lives to the fullest and embraced their days together for almost sixty years. My brother, cousins, and I traveled many miles by plane, train, and automobile and listened intently to the optimism and wisdom of two of the kindest souls one could ever meet. They were successful not only financially, through a strong work ethic and wise business practices, but also spiritually and mentally by living right, one day at a time.Traveling along the road to get to destinations with our grandparents was always a well-coordinated adventure. At least four or five times a year, we would pile in the back seat of PapaJack’s big red Chrysler® and drive for hours to their little mountain retreat. Along the way, we would play travel games they kept packed in pockets on the back of the front seats. I would watch mile marker numbers shrink in size, as we approached each little town, remembering the last time I was there and knowing exactly what was around the corner. It seemed so easy, all so natural as children. We knew that fun was ahead, and soon, we would be in a comfortable place. PapaJack and Nanlil would have everything planned perfectly, from roasting marshmallows, snow skiing, hiking, and tubing, to breakfast, which was always orange sweet rolls, scrambled eggs, and cheese grits with half a big pink grapefruit. I loved it all — except the grapefruit.
Later, as “grown-ups,” we soon learned that our time and activities had to be budgeted, and we needed to create our own plans to enjoy fun, success, and life, as we would come to know it. We don’t have the watchful eyes, skillful hands, and loving hearts of our parents and grandparents forever. The mile markers and milestones in our lives will keep coming. It’s up to us to understand they are not there for us to know how far we have come; they are there to mark the distance to the destination ahead.
Happy travels along your many roads, and keep moving forward toward your goals.
to your business!