Aug

30

2009

13 Days in Michigan (Day Six)

13 days in michigan  Posted by / 8 comments


The third was my grandmother’s birthday, and on the agenda was upside down pineapple cake, sloppy joes, potato salad, and a lot of catching up. My grandmother and grandfather were the first of my relatives aside from my immediate family to meet Tom before we announced our engagement. My grandma fell in love with him, which was such a relief to me because she can be mighty picky. Which is a good thing, right? We’ve exchanged emails since I left. I send her photos of life here and she sends me cute recipes and updates in all caps to show her excitement. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m throwing tidbits, or verbal snapshots, into this entry. A friend of mine lost her grandmother very recently and it’s made me realize that I want to remember more than just what we ate, where we went, and who we were with on our vacation. I’d like to remember the little things too.

My grandmother talks a lot, and excitedly. My grandpa says, “That’s right, dear” sometimes just to assure Grandma she’s remembered the story right. Grandma has a laugh that belongs to an older Japanese woman. Tee hee hee. They’ve both lead a full life and visited many, many countries. Scotland was their favorite. When Grandma gets a little flustered or determined, she purses her lips just like my dad. Or rather he does it just like her. Grandpa didn’t come with Grandma when she visited us in Okinawa because he served there in World War II and it was too hard for him to go back. My Grandma is very opinionated and a battle warrior for all things “Green”. She’s spent the last few months organizing fundraisers by herself to help raise awareness and fight a local energy company. They want to put a well near a park and put their chemical discharge down it. She excitedly scribbled a diagram showing how her researched proved that within thirty years, all of it would be in Lake Michigan. She just informed me in an email the other day that the company finally surrendered, by the way. Pineapple upside down cake is her favorite.





My grandpa is amazing. He is a gentle presence and I think one of the things I will always remember about him was that he hand carved the most beautiful birds, especially ducks, from wood. My parents divorced when I was twelve and my grandma and grandpa made sure to get my sister and I out to their house for several weekends- along with our two cousins, very similar in age, whose parents were going through a divorce as well. My grandparents are the only reason I know my cousins so well. They’re the only cousins I am close to, actually.

My grandpa is dying. His cancer has come back and he’s doing his best to fight it, but he tells me he’s tired and that getting out of bed on some days is too much work. This is surprising because I’ve never heard a negative word out of his mouth, ever. I hope with all my heart that he can hold on to see Tom and I married.










On my desk, this photo is. One of the first actual pictures of Bronwyn and I together. We’re usually both so glued to our cameras that we never take a moment to get a picture taken together.
kat   sara and tom
I love this picture of Kat and I wish I didn’t look like such a goober in the photo with Tom.






Another desk photo.



She was taking this photo, by the way.

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