TD Imholt was what most people would consider a well traveled person. Her father was a Pan Am Pioneer and she was able to tag along to many exotic locales as a child and young woman because of his career as a pilot. In adulthood she traveled to Europe numerous times but she loved tropical locations the most and she had the skin for it! (Wish you would have passed that tanning gene our way Gram!) The place she wanted to travel to the most always seemed just out of reach.
We first heard about Gram's desire to see Australia when we were 10 or 11 years old. We would talk about it with her often. Asking her where she would go and what she would do. In 1993 when it was announced that Sydney would host the 2000 Summer Olympics we decided that should be the year that we would go and Gram would be coming with us. We would take in the sites and maybe catch an Olympic swimming or tennis event. We talked about going for years, but as fate would have it that trip was not to be because her health started to deteriorate and travel became difficult.
We continued to talk about Australia and seriously considered it again in 2007, we wanted to try to figure out a way to make it happen. For Mother's Day '07 we made Gram a vacation photo album of her fictional trip down under. The photos inside were all images of her doing fun and amazing things from Sydney to the Great Barrier Reef, from Alice Springs to Melbourne and all the spots in between. It didn't hurt that we photoshopped her head on some pretty nice bikini bodied women and placed her on a Sydney Harbor date with her crush, tennis pro Andy Roddick. She loved the album so much and couldn't contain her laughter. On the last page of the album we wrote a note that said we would take her to Australia in 2010.
Sadly, Gram passed away in May of 2010 having never traveled to Australia. Days after her passing we made it our goal to get Gram to Australia, so her ashes will be with us on this adventure. She will be with us on every tour, at every meal, every photo op. As we've been planning this journey we have felt Gram with us every step of the way. In some instances we have felt as if she was doing her best to set us on the right path.
In March our Aunt Mandy was on vacation in Cinque Terre, Italy. She was in a little cafe and struck up a conversation with an Australian woman from the Gold Coast who turned out to be a travel agent. (What are the chances?) Since that time we've been working with this travel agent, Murf, to build a trip we know Gram would have loved.
Gram presented herself again when we found out our hotel in Melbourne is very near the Rod Laver Arena, home of the Australian Open, an event she would wake up at 1 am in the morning to watch. Tennis was one of Gram's favorite hobbies. Many of our afternoons were spent talking and laughing with Gram at the kitchen table with tennis being played on the TV behind us. She especially enjoyed watching her beloved Andy Roddick. She thought he was a great player and not too bad in the looks department.
Gram will also be making a quick stop with us in New Zealand before we arrive in Melbourne, something we had not initially planned because we weren't going to have enough time to see New Zealand as a whole on this trip, but apparently Gram had other plans so now we have a short stop over there.
We are excited to get to Australia in the next couple of weeks and know Gram is looking down on us tickled pink about it as well. We know she will be with us in spirit the whole time and laughing all the way. She was an amazing woman and we were so lucky to have had her in our lives and been loved by her. We are honored to be able to fulfill this dream for her.
Love you Gram, missing your "Hey, Babes!" from the other end of the phone.
- T&J
The slideshow below was played at Gram's memorial service, May 2010. Enjoy!
(Read by Andrew Imholt, Laughs by TD's friends and family)
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