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Joy Ryan, 93, is the oldest woman to visit every U.S. national park
A 93-year-old grandmother and her 42-year-old grandson just finished a tour of all 63 U.S. national parks. They became internet celebrities2 along the way.
A MART?NEZ, HOST:
Ninety-three-year-old Joy Ryan has set a world record.
JOY RYAN: I'm the oldest old lady to ever visit every national park.
MART?NEZ: All 63 national parks. And she did it with her grandson, Brad, who's 42. Here's NPR's Ari Daniel.
ARI DANIEL, BYLINE3: Joy and Brad Ryan gingerly walk along a path in the rain forest beneath a cathedral of flowers and green vines. Joy's in sandals. And Brad's right beside her.
BRAD RYAN: All right. Hold on to my hand.
J RYAN: Had to get over that root. Look at those big leaves. I never saw anything like it in my whole born days.
DANIEL: This is the National Park of American Samoa in the South Pacific, some 6,700 miles from their home in Duncan Falls, Ohio, and the last part to secure Joy that world record.
B RYAN: Look at that. And then everything gets bright again.
DANIEL: Massive stone arches stand along the island's north side, where the Pacific crashes ashore4.
J RYAN: Isn't that magnificent?
B RYAN: It's amazing. Yeah.
J RYAN: Oh, it's so pretty, just like it's a dream.
DANIEL: This journey that culminated5 here - it began 20-odd years ago, when Brad's parents got divorced and he became estranged6 from his grandma, Joy. It wasn't until his sister's wedding that he saw her again.
B RYAN: She came into the church, and she was gaunt, unsteady. It was hard to see this woman that was so important to me in my formative years on the cusp of dying, knowing that there was so much anger and distance between us.
DANIEL: But over a period of months, Joy recovered, and Brad worked up the courage to suggest they make raisin-filled cookies together.
B RYAN: But there was a little too much awkwardness for my liking7. You can't pick up where you left off. I learned that quickly.
DANIEL: Still, they stayed in touch. Then in 2015, when Brad was in vet8 school, he found himself in a dark place.
J RYAN: Brad was feeling depressed9 and not very happy with hisself, and so he called, you know, if I wanted to go down to the Smoky Mountains and stay in a tent. And I said, yes. I'll try it.
B RYAN: There's a lot of things I've gotten wrong in my life. The best thing I ever did was to call her that day.
DANIEL: Grandma Joy was 85. She'd never even seen a mountain before, but she and Brad set out to summit one of the park's peaks. It was 2 1/2 miles to the top.
B RYAN: She was very, very wobbly. Her balance and coordination10 were very poor.
J RYAN: And when I got to the top, there was this big group of college kids, and they all gave me a rousing cheer (laughter).
DANIEL: Joy and Brad were hooked. They visited one national park after another, and Joy kept getting stronger. They went zip lining11 in West Virginia.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
B RYAN: Woo-hoo.
J RYAN: I had these handsome men give me a hug, and down there we went.
DANIEL: Whitewater rafting in Alaska.
J RYAN: Good gravy12. What a trip.
DANIEL: Joy even rolled down a sand dune13 in Colorado.
B RYAN: And I said, you are going to break a hip14. And she goes, kiss my grits15.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
B RYAN: Have fun getting back up.
DANIEL: Brad and Joy have had little dust-ups along the way. But this tour of the national parks - it healed their rift16.
J RYAN: You can't hold grudges17 forever.
DANIEL: At times, the park spoke18 to them personally, like when they hiked amongst the towering California redwoods, feeling two inches tall, and Joy looked up and noticed something.
J RYAN: They've been struck by lightning. And you think, that takes courage, after you've been struck by lightning to say, I'm going to keep on growing.
DANIEL: For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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2 celebrities | |
n.(尤指娱乐界的)名人( celebrity的名词复数 );名流;名声;名誉 | |
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3 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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4 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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5 culminated | |
v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6 estranged | |
adj.疏远的,分离的 | |
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7 liking | |
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢 | |
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8 vet | |
n.兽医,退役军人;vt.检查 | |
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9 depressed | |
adj.沮丧的,抑郁的,不景气的,萧条的 | |
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10 coordination | |
n.协调,协作 | |
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11 lining | |
n.衬里,衬料 | |
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12 gravy | |
n.肉汁;轻易得来的钱,外快 | |
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13 dune | |
n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘 | |
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14 hip | |
n.臀部,髋;屋脊 | |
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15 grits | |
n.粗磨粉;粗面粉;粗燕麦粉;粗玉米粉;细石子,砂粒等( grit的名词复数 );勇气和毅力v.以沙砾覆盖(某物),撒沙砾于( grit的第三人称单数 );咬紧牙关 | |
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16 rift | |
n.裂口,隙缝,切口;v.裂开,割开,渗入 | |
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17 grudges | |
不满,怨恨,妒忌( grudge的名词复数 ) | |
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18 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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