On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, Mom fulfilled the first item on her bucket list – parasailing at the beach. It started a few years ago when Mom was sitting on the balcony at the beach looking out at the ocean. She noticed some people parasailing and said “I want to do that again”. She and Dad had been parasailing 25-30 years earlier in Florida. Over the next couple of years she never let go of her desire to go one more time, so my sister, brother and I, along with our spouses, starting planning the bucket list trip to the beach. Cherry Grove, SC would be the perfect place to go since that is the beach that our family had visited over the years on our family vacations.
We worked it out so that all of the family could be there to witness our nearly 92 year old mother/grandmother/great grandmother/mother-in-law go parasailing.
My sister found and reserved a 3 bedroom condo in Cherry Grove. My brother gathered his family in Oak Island. Mom’s grandson was coming with us from Cary until he got sick the days leading up to the trip. I was in charge of two things, getting Mom from Cary to Cherry Grove and the weather. Responsibility number one, check. I only received a 67% on responsibility number two. No rain, check. No gusty winds, check. Cool or warm, failure! The temperature was in the upper 90’s and we had to wait our turn and then go through a safety and instructional talk.
It was finally our turn to head out to sea. With life jackets and hats on, we headed to our banana boat to meet our guide for the trip out in the ocean to the big boat.
Our guide pulled us out to sea using a Sea-Doo. We found our rendezvous boat that was going to take Mom and Blair up and made the transfer. There were people we were trading places with that had just been up. Some family members were taking their mom parasailing like we were. Mom, wanting to meet her competition for the “most experienced” asked the lady how old she was…83 was the answer. Mom said “You’re just a child” We wished each other well and they took off back to shore.
It was time to get final instructions and get hooked up for the flight. Blair was going to go up with Mom. The boat started going, and the parachute pulled them up as the rope was extended.
Up up they went in their journey. They went about 500′ above the Atlantic Ocean. We had told the boat captain that it was “bucket list” item for Mom so he gave them a really good ride. He took them as close to shore as he safely could, hoping the rest of the family could see her.
Just before the flight concluded, the captain slowed the boat down allowing for the parachute to drop and dip them in the ocean. As soon as their feet dipped in, he took off and up they went.
After they were back on board the boat, we transferred back to a waiting banana boat for the trip back to shore. It was an exciting trip, a great day and so fun to have the family enjoy this bucket list experience with Mom.
