'It's reinvigorating': Cherry blossom visit offers memories, perspective for one DC senior

WASHINGTON (7News) — Amid the thousands coming to the Tidal Basin to catch a glimpse of peak bloom, you’ll find Andrea Ronhovde making her yearly pilgrimage.

"They're just spectacular. You know, the setting," Ronhovde described.

To say she’s seen a lot in her 84 years would be an understatement.

"My father had a fellowship to study foreign policy in Norway. And in April of 1940, suddenly the Nazis invaded and bombed Oslo, where we were, and so my parents needed to escape," she explained.

Her family fled Norway and eventually ended up in Japan.

"At that point, Japan had not entered the war. So this was before Pearl Harbor. We had a wonderful experience there," Ronhovde explained.

It’s a memory she’s fond of – and a connection she feels every time she sees these trees.

"There were some pretty horrendous things on both sides, you know, that we did to each other, but we always came back and supported each other," she said. "There's been so much history here [in D.C.], and this is sort of a part of it. And the fact that it came from Japan, it just is something sort of special."

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She first moved to D.C. during the Kennedy Administration and she's seen the District, and the world, change a lot, from school integration to the iPhone 14.

But some things stay the same.

"The cherry blossoms represent kind of that constant continuity," she said.

She’s been coming to see the trees for decades.

"I used to drive down at six in the morning, I remember, just to avoid the traffic," she said with a laugh.

She said seeing the blooms now, in a wheelchair and in her 80s, gives a different perspective. But the energy she gets from coming is still powerful.

"The crowds are different and people dress different -- but if you do come, it's reinvigorating," she said.

A true experience for the ages.

A special thanks to the folks at Sunrise on Connecticut Avenue, where Andrea resides, for their team effort in coordinating transportation and resources for this story.