Thursday's Child: Walking the Golden Gate bridge

Last March, my mom, my youngest daughter and I travelled to San Francisco. It was an early celebration of a milestone birthday my mom had later that year, and a wonderful way for the three of us to bond.

Before we left for San Francisco, I had suggested that each of us read about the city and come up with one activity we couldn't miss. My daughter chose Golden Gate Park, with its lovely Japanese Tea Garden and the fabulous California Academy of Sciences. I didn't want to miss Chinatown. And my mom wanted to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

She walks every day and is in excellent health. But I was worried that the walk might be too much for her. It was mid-afternoon, and we'd already spent much of the day on the city's up-and-down streets. So she and I agreed to the very practical suggestion of walking to the halfway point, then walking back.

We paused at the halfway point to take a few photos, and I got a couple of lovely ones of my daughter overlooking the city. Then I said, "I'd like Grandma to be in the next one." My daughter pointed along the pedestrian walk and said, "Grandma left a few minutes ago." And indeed, there she was, walking briskly toward the other end of the bridge.

Turns out she thought we were too tired to make the whole trip, so she decided to do it by herself. So I caught up to her, and we enjoyed our Golden Gate walk - in both directions.