Sail Away

When considering the many different stories that I have come to know from my family one story will always stand out. Although it is never fun to remember a sad story this one in particular holds more value to me then any other story I have been told or apart of. This story is both something that I experience and come to learn more about as I have come to an age where I could grasp the full details of the story. Regardless of the fact that this story is specific to my family it holds great value to those who read it for its meaning to overcome tragedy and to heal.

            Being from northern Ohio it is not uncommon for families to be familiar with the water given that Lake Erie is so close by. For that reason I was born into a family with grandparents who feel more at home on the water then they do on land. I was just a young lad at the time, age five, when my grandparents took me out on their sailboat, a beautiful 48 foot single mast, just like they had done time and time again. Although I was very young I am still able to remember bits and pieces of this day with great detail. The day had turned from sunny clear skies to a gloomy grey afternoon topped with just the slightest of rains. It was then that we received a call that would change my grandparent’s lives forever. Just a week before his marriage my Uncle Ed, my grandparent’s son, was killed in a tragic car accident by a drunk driver. From this point on however, is where an unbelievable tragedy transpired into an unforgettable life-changing journey for my grandparents.

            After the loss of their son my grandparents, Don and Lois Babson, were stricken with grief and sought to take refuge the only way they knew how. Just months after the accident my grandparents set forth on an epic voyage to sail around the world with a group known as the millennium. On this sole searching journey they traveled to hundreds of different locations meetings new people and finding comfort with new friends. It had been three years since seeing my grandparents last when I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime. At the age of eight met up with my grandparents in Australia spending three months of my summer break sailing the Pacific Ocean! Although this is not my story I was fortunate enough to be in a small part of it and now at an older age can understand why this journey meant so much to them. This journey took my grandparents over five years separating them from the world they knew and changing them into the great people they are today. They were able to visit countless places and I for one can tell you that listening to each individual story is a privilege in itself.  Although this may not be the happiest story I have from my family it is without a doubt the most influential and motivating story.