A Week With the Family

I wrote in my last entry that I was going to Michigan for a week and then described the unusual and welcome trip. I will attempt to describe some of the goings-on while I was actually there, but I fear I may disappoint the masses. I have found that it is much easier to write witty, funny, and sometimes sarcastic things about people when I don't know them. That said, it is with some trepidation that I write about real, live people that I know and love.

I was asked at least once last week, the change names to protect the innocent. There are no innocents in this story. Everything I report is true. I will, however, change names slightly, to protect those who do not wish to be identified.

I arrived in Michigan on Tuesday evening last week, and was there until Sunday afternoon. The first two days were an opportunity to spend some time with my aging grandparents. Both of whom have had some health problems in the past year, but who were mobile and spunky as ever. I offered to help them when one or the other said they needed to do something, until my Aunt Ary gently chided me and said, "We like to let them do as much as they can by themselves. If they need help, they know to ask for it." If you want to feel useless, just sit at the kitchen table while your 80+ year-old grandparents are tooling around on their canes at top speeds. I once went out to the mailbox with my grandma, and as I offered my arm, she said, "You don't think I can do it myself!" I said, (and meant) "No, it's an opportunity to spend a few minutes with you alone." The house that my grandparents live in now is directly across the street from the house my grandmother was born in, so even a short trip to the mailbox will net a story of her childhood. When we arrived at the mailbox, there was a parcel as well as several envelopes, so she asked me to carry a few things. I was glad to be there when she did ask for help.

One of the beautiful things I noticed during my time with them was that when they did their daily devotions and it came time for prayer, they called individual names. They would read about a missionary and specifically pray for him. They prayed, by name, for an aunt of mine who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. I told them one morning that even tho I didn't hear them pray for me, the fact that they called other peoples' names suggests to me that they have prayed for me by name, too. My grandma said, "Yes, many times." I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

My Aunt Ary, my grandparents and I arrived at Aunt Da and Uncle Ike's house for the family weekend on Thursday afternoon. We had originally planned to arrive at noon, but we found out that no one would be there before noon. We took our time travelling, but still got there before anyone else. Ary wanted to get the car washed before we arrived, so I pulled into a car wash and found it to be twice as much as she had hoped. I was prepared to pay the high price of $6, but she wanted to check another location that would probably be $3. I decided that rather than look all over town for a better car wash deal, I would pay the $6, but try to talk the guy down a little bit. I asked, "If you don't use soap, or maybe don't dry the car, can we get out of here for $3?" He said six was as low as he could go, so I paid it and in we went. There was a bit of a ruckus when I made a wrong turn later and we found ourselves on a quarter-mile section of dirt road. Aunt Ary wanted me to turn the car around. I decided to speed up and move thru that section of road faster. I do hope that my refusal to turn the car around does not create a rift in our relationship.

My brothers and their families and my parents arrived later on Thursday, and I had an opportunity to take a kayak out with my four-year-old nephew, Hayden. My brother took Hayden's younger brother, Titus and we paddled down the channel toward a lake-one of seven in the chain. It was nice to spend some time with my brother, Nate, and two of his boys. They will be going back to Tanzania in less than a month, so any time available to spend with them, is borrowed. Hayden seemed taken with the lilypads, so we paddled into them. When he tried to pick one, alarm bells went off in my head. It seems I was told once they were protected. Either Aunt Da didn't want them in her house, or it really is a crime to pick them. Either way, I passed on the same fear of lilypads to my impressionable nephew.

I had brought some air fresheners from work. Everyone loves presents, even small ones, and these things were on sale at my store, so I took several to Michigan with me. Interestingly, they made it thru security at the airport with no problem. I forgot about them until the morning I was leaving. I handed them out to a couple of people in the room, and showed one to Aunt Da. The air freshener was a picture of a guy skipping and it said "Skipping is Gay!" Aunt Da asked what that smell would be. I said I didn't know but if I were designing gay air fresheners, I might make it smell like fruit. Just as I was answering her, she found it listed on the back side of the packaging-"fruit scented air freshener" If you check an entry from August 2010, you may see a pattern developing. For the record, there was fruit salad available last week. No, I did not eat any.

A weekend "away" with the family is always full of many, many vignettes. Far too many to write about. It would be easier to take a camera crew to a family weekend, just to capture all of the episodes and events. Sometimes, I think my life would be a more interesting show than the Kardashians. And way more interesting than Kate. Ugh. She chaps my...but I digress.

Ultimately, there are moments shared, repeated, remembered, cherished, and scorned. Every year there are new moments added. While I can't make it every year to these gatherings, I value more the ones I do get to even more. Now would be an opportune time to thank Aunt Da and Uncle Ike for opening their home to us every year. Thank you! (And thanks for your support. It means more than I can tell you.)