"Amama"
has been permanently relocated, with park permission, to a peaceful
location in the First Landing State Park, just a short walk from
ample parking on the north side of Shore Drive. The First Landing
State Park Visitors Center parking lot is located at N 36°55.107 W
076°03.164. If you are just stopping by to check out the Visitors
Center, you can obtain a 20-minute courtesy pass at the guard
shack. That should be enough time to make the find. Or you can pay
$4 on weekdays or $5 on weekends and have full access to the park
and all of its amenities (and caches).
I know
that my mother would have just loved Geocaching. I’m sorry that I discovered
it too late myself (just last year) to be able to share it with
her. She was a natural
“searcher”, ever curious about the world around her and
its workings. She
longed to travel extensively and discover new (to her) places on
foot or otherwise.
She moved
to Virginia Beach from Massachusetts (her only home for 49 years)
in 1969 seeking a “truth” in this new
world. Circumstances
forced her to leave here in 1972 for Texas, but she always referred
to Virginia Beach as her “spiritual home”. A small amount of her cremains has been placed in a few special locations
around the city. She
briefly returned here to live in 1985 before moving back to
Massachusetts in 1986 and then to Texas once again to complete her
life’s journey.
She came back to this area for several extended visits during those
“away” years. While here, she particularly
enjoyed walking on the north-end beach and in Seashore (now First
Landing) State Park.
Among
other things, Mom was a talented sketch artist. When married to my father, her
name was June Parker Trop and she would sign her works using the
abbreviated version “jupartro”. Growing up, I always thought that
was pretty cool and ironically chose my caching name in the same
manner.
With the
birth of her first granddaughter in 1966, my mother made it known
that she wanted to be called “Grandmother”. All the subsequent grandchildren
complied. She came for
a Christmas visit to my home in 1988, when my son was 8 months old
and just learning to speak. When he tried to say
“Grandmother”, it came out “Amama”. After 25 years of a more formal
title, she was apparently ready for a change, loved her new unique
name, and adopted it immediately, universally, and
permanently.
On a
recent trip to visit my sisters in Texas, I introduced them to
Geocaching and, while explaining the sort of swag people place and
find in caches, one sister produced a box of small inexpensive
items (mostly ceiling light pulls) of my Mom’s and asked
“Like these?” “Yes”, I replied, and
was told that I should take them home with me and use them for
cache trading. I
thought maybe I could do even better and suggested a tribute
cache. All agreed, so
here it is.
For you,
Mom.
Thank you for showing us the way so many times. And thank you for
letting us determine our own direction on so many other
occasions. We hope you
enjoy your own little spot, your new “home” at the
beach, as others find their way to you.
You will
forever hold a special place in the hearts of those who knew and
love you.
-Your “kids”-
I have
included a Travel Bug Amama's
Light whose goal is to circle the Earth, visit as many states
and countries as possible, and eventually return to Virginia Beach
. . . like she always did.
**********Congratulations to S&Lcachers for the
FTF**********
**********And congratulations to kissgppa4 for the FTF at the
new location**********