TRAVEL TALES

Young Chang

Sandra Whitson’s friend played the dean as he rolled up a Daily Pilot

edition and handed her the mock diploma.

The Eiffel Tower stood gracefully overhead. A sheen of drizzle fell.

And Whitson, 57, clad in a navy blue graduation cap and gown, accepted

her makeshift diploma as onlookers wished her kudos on an April day in

Paris.

“My church had a trip to Paris, and also my graduation at Vanguard

University was at the same time, so it was a choice between going to

graduation in Costa Mesa or Paris,” the Newport Beach resident said. “A

friend suggested I take my cap and gown and celebrate in front of the

Eiffel Tower.”

Whitson is the first in her family -- parents, siblings, kids and

grandkids included -- to graduate from college and earn a degree. She

enrolled at Vanguard two years ago and majored in Psychology to try and

break the chain.

“And I thought my grandkids could see my picture in Paris and that

could give them more incentive,” she said.

Her husband Ron, who traveled with Whitson and eight other couples

from Mariners Church in Newport Beach, said he wanted to sing during the

impromptu ceremony.

“But they didn’t let me,” he laughed.

The couple toured France with the group for five days and continued on

to Italy.

Sandra Whitson remembers one specific -- and explosive -- experience

at the airport in Nice. Customs officials blew up a suitcase that had

been sitting there too long, suspicious the item contained a bomb.

“It was kinda interesting, kinda scary,” she said. “They carry machine

guns around, maybe because it’s close to Africa . . . . We had to hold

our ears.”

Ron tells stories about his taxi rides -- especially the very first

one -- in Italy.

“From the Leonardo da Vinci airport to the center of Rome,” he said.

“It’s everybody beware. Pedestrians jump out of the way. Thousands of

scooters, pedestrians have no rights at all.”

But the highlight of his trip was, of course, watching his wife

graduate. In the fall, Whitson will start school at Azusa Pacific

University to earn her masters degree.

“I hope it encourages other grandmas to go finish their degrees,” Ron

said.

* Have you, or someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation

recently? Tell us your adventures. Drop us a line to Travel Tales, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; e-mail [email protected]; or fax to

(949) 646-4170.