We took my husband's 75-year-old grandmother to Iceland. We still talk about that trip 9 years later.

The author with her husband's grandmother, Nanny, in Iceland. They're standing on the continental divide in Þingvellir National Park.

Courtesy of Laura Leavitt

I still remember when I first got the email from one of my husband's cousins about his grandmother's upcoming birthday: "Nanny loves to travel. What if we give her a trip to Iceland for her birthday? And as many of us can go with her as possible!" The flurry of responses showed that we were all excited: that cousin's sister, her mother, her uncle, and my husband and I all eventually signed up: a total of seven of us, including Nanny, were in.At Nanny's 75th birthday party, a true blowout bash with karaoke and tons of decorations, we wrapped an enormous box full of balloons and a little sign that said, "You're going to Iceland!" To anyone considering giving a big trip as a gift, it's worth making the delivery dramatic, because we really loved seeing the thrill on her face when she figured out what the box of balloons was about. The whole family felt represented in it: while only six of us were actually going to Iceland with her, other family members contributed to the costs of Nanny's trip because they saw what a beautiful memory this could be.