Sun N Fun Blog: RV Resort, Vacation Homes, Vacation Home Rentals in Sarasota, Florida

Meet the Grandparents

When Leslie Hodges met his wife to be, he was working for her dad and she was the pretty girl driving up to the office in a Mustang to visit her father. Leslie may have been a bit wild in those days, his wife says now, but he was gentleman enough to ask for permission to date her.

Children enjoying their happy meals from their "adopted" grandparents

As these things happen when you’re teenagers, Joann went off to Florida State University, where she got her degree in Social Work with a minor in Music, and Leslie went to work for his father in the water-well drilling business.

Eventually they got back together, married and settled on a little farm just outside of Ft. Myers. But as everyone knows who’s married, that’s not the end of the story. Joann pursued her career as a nursing home administrator and Leslie eventually took over his dad’s business. About seven years ago they got a travel trailer, discovered Sun-N-Fun and have been coming here weekends from April thru December ever since.

Involved with their careers, they decided not to have children, but that didn’t keep them from having a loving spot in their hearts for kids. They always found a way to spend time and work with them, first at their church and then at Sun-N-Fun, where this summer their kindness and generosity earned them the title of the Sun-N-Fun’s day camp unofficial grandparents.

It started with just seeing what they could do to help. They began buying about fifty day campers breakfast every Friday morning at McDonalds. Then Chef JoAnn volunteered to do the cooking if the Hodges’ got the supplies. They were happy to comply and the kids were happy to gobble up pancakes and bacon and wash it all down with chocolate milk before heading off to a day filled with fun activities.

And they did lots of little things, like make medals for the winners of the day camp fishing tournament. When day camp was close to ending, they collected school supplies for all the children, sending them home to start the school year with notebooks, folders, paper, pencils and protractors. But mostly they took the time to spend time and that, after all, is what’s most important to a child.

The Hodges’ did this, despite some serious health problems of their own earlier in the year. Joann had a problem with blood clots in her legs and lungs. She had to learn to walk again, dress herself, and bathe. Leslie, who’d, had a stroke some years back, lost part of his right foot as a result of his diabetes. But Joann says that every day is a new day and their faith and love for one another has helped them along the road to recovery.

Part of that recovery for this remarkable couple was reaching out to the campers. One youngster in particular caught their attention. They noticed her because she often stood apart from the other children her head down and her shoulders slumped as though she was carrying the weight of the world. The Hodges’ soon learned that what she was carrying was the pain of her parent’s separation. A grandmother, with whom she was living, became gravely ill and needed surgery.

The couple developed a special feeling for the child and spent as much time with her as they could. They got her a new wardrobe for the start of the new school year and wrapped it all up as presents. The present they received in return was the warmth of a child’s smile at the hope that everything would work out. With people like the Hodges’ in her life, we’re sure it will.