A first-time mom had an emotional realization as she headed home from visiting her grandma with her one-year-old son.
Jasmin Cooke became a mom at the age of 35 after several years of trying to get pregnant. It was during this period that she and her husband took to the open road, documenting their travels together with the Instagram account AdventuresOfTheCookes.
“We started traveling more and more when we were struggling to have a child,” Cooke said. “It took four years until Jack came. During those four years, we developed a deep love for traveling and sharing the experiences we had.”
Over the years that followed, Cooke and her husband developed friendships and followers online, as part of a community of like-minded travel lovers. Jack’s arrival hasn’t changed that.
“We are very determined to keep traveling and embrace what was once our DINK (dual income no kids) life, now as family adventures,” Cooke said.
While they have often focused on the “adventures” part of that ethos, “family” has also remained important. Cooke said that, despite the geographical distance between them, her mom has a “close relationship” with her grandson, Jack. “My mom has weekly FaceTime calls with him, and he chit-chats with her. She also just spent two weeks with us, which was really nice,” she said.
Enjoying close ties with grandparents can be of significant benefit to the development of a child.
Grandparents can provide kids with an extra layer of emotional support during their formative years. In 2016, a study from the scientific journal The Gerontologist found children who had a greater emotional closeness to their grandparents were less likely to be depressed as adults.
Cooke knows firsthand what a close relationship with a grandparent looks like. She’s always been close to her “Wita.”
“My grandma and I have always had a special relationship,” Cooke said. “My fondest memories of her growing up are just how silly she always was. She was the kind of grandma who made the turkey we were eating for Thanksgiving and did a little dance before we cooked it.”
Cooke has many fond memories of her grandma. “She makes jokes and doesn’t skip a beat if I ask her where her boyfriend is—I’m not fully sure if she has one or not—but she’ll joke that he had to go to work,” Cooke said.
“She always joked about borrowing all my cute things. She has always had a playful relationship with me.”
One of her favorite memories is the sneaky thing her grandma did when she went to say goodbye. “She would hand me $20 and tell me to buy candy with it,” Cooke said.
Jack has only met Cooke’s grandma, his great-grandma, a couple of times, but discovered something that made her heart swell. As they were leaving her grandma’s apartment, she noticed Jack clutching a wad of something: it was money. She was doing for him, what she had done for Cooke all those years ago.
“Watching her give him money the same way she would with me felt like a full-circle moment,” Cooke said.
Feeling emotional at seeing this, Cooke posted footage of her son holding the money to her Instagram, AdventuresOfTheCookes, where it quickly went viral, receiving over 560,000 views.
“Jack held on to that money like he was the bank. He took it very seriously and made sure it was secure,” she said. Commenting on the video’s viral success, Cooke said, “this isn’t just a relatable grandparent experience for one group of people. It’s a multicultural experience, amplifying the idea that grandparents everywhere have giving hearts.”
Jack is no doubt looking forward to seeing his great-grandma again very soon.
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