Mommy and Daughter Trip Recap

Well, I finally decided to honker down and post a few pictures from our trip to Michigan. We had a great vacation, but it was also a working vacation which means I cleaned and organized at Mom and Dad's. My sister Linda and I also had to do some running around to various banks and we also set up other appointments for our parents. We didn't make it to the beach. We drove along Lake Superior a couple of times, but did not get out of the car. The last couple of days that we were there were rainy and/or overcast. Standing on the shores of Lake Superior in the cold did not appeal to me.

Tuesday night Katie, Linda, Mom and I went to visit Uncle Al and Auntie Fern. Uncle Al is my mom's brother. They live on the land that was my maternal grandparents' and where my Mom was born. Katie thoroughly checked out their home and yard. I didn't get any pictures of Uncle Al, but Katie really likes him. I think it has to do with the fact that he shared half of his Hershey's candy bar with her.

Katie peering into a wheel at Uncle Al and Auntie Fern's.

Katie touring one of the several decks on Uncle Al and Auntie Fern's house.

Katie walking by the gazebo attached to one of the decks.

Linda and Auntie Fern in the gazebo. Auntie Fern would have been a great mother to a little girl but she had two boys instead. When I was a youngster there were mother and daughter dinners at our church and Auntie Fern would "borrow" my sister Maryel or I so she could attend. As a side note, Katie took this picture.

Wednesday night we--Katie, Mom, Dad, Linda and I--piled into my rental car and drove up the Keweenaw Peninsula to Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. My Aunt Sara, my dad's sister, was celebrating her 91st birthday. Out of the twelve children in the family--including step-brother and step-sisters--only my Aunt Sara and my dad are left.

Dad and Auntie Sara. They look great for their ages--85 and 91.

My cousin Wende singing the Backstrom Birthday Song for Auntie Sara.

My mom made pasties when we were home. (Pasties are actually Cornish and are calzones filled with ground sirloin, potatoes, rutabagas--turnips for those not from the U.P--think of a pot pie without the gravy. The Cornish copper miners that emigrated to the U.P. introduced them to the area. The reason the underground copper miners liked them is that they would put a pasty in their pocket and it would stay warm until lunch. Also, because the filling is baked in a crust, the inexpensive meat and potatoes didn't fall out in their pocket.) Katie was her little helper and learned how to make this U.P. favorite. She scooped the filling into the crust and sealed the pasty by pinching the dough. It's neat to think that my mother learned to make pasties from her mother, I learned to make them from my mother and now Katie learned how from her grandmother.

Katie and Mom making pasties.

Dad requested that I buy a bottle of bubbles for Katie, which I did. I soon found them outside blowing bubbles.

During our stay, Katie presented several bouquets of wildflowers to her Grandma, Grandpa, Linda and me. During one flower expedition Linda climbed down an embankment to get pretty purple flowers for Katie. When she handed them to Katie, Katie basically said no thanks. It was then that I realized that Katie was picking all white flowers so the pretty purple ones didn't make it into that day's bouquet.

Linda and Katie picking wildflowers in the field next to my parents.

When I go home I usually end up digging through boxes in the attic. Some items that I encountered this time I have not seen since I was a young child. The hat that Katie is sporting in this picture is a hat that my Dad gave to me when I was about nine years old. I wore that hat for an entire summer and rarely took it off. I brought the hat home with me.

Katie eating her birthday cake.

After my dad had his stroke in February 2006 he used a four-prong cane when he walked. He no longer needs the cane, but it was in a corner in the front porch. Katie found it and decided it made a good microphone. In the picture above she is singing her heart out.

My cousin Jack, his wife Gail and their grandson Joshua stopped by to visit. Katie was enamored with Josh who is her fourth cousin. The fact that he helped her build her Dora puzzle that she got from my Uncle Al and Auntie Fern won Josh a place in Katie's heart. Shortly after meeting Josh, Katie exclaimed, "He's a BIG boy!" In the space of ten minutes Josh went from "a big boy" to "my friend" to "my boyfriend."

This is my cousin Jack who is my Auntie Sara's son. Jack and my Dad are pretty close and Jack looks so much like my Dad that you would think they are father and son. My Dad looks like his father and when you put pictures of the three of them next to each other the resemblance is quite clear. Katie took this picture.

Katie and Grandpa or "Bop-Bop" as she calls him. Katie has taken to smiling like a goober when I take her picture.

Mom and me. I look like a deer in headlights. Katie took this picture.

The old homestead. The house has always made me feel very connected to my ancestors. My great-grandfather built this house. After his death my grandfather moved into the house. My father was born in this house. My Grandfather died in this house and was laid out for last respects in the living room--they did that in years past. My Aunt Hilda died in my Grandmother's arms at the age of nine while my Grandmother was rocking her. Hilda had heart issues and took her last breath in the dining room. I marvel at the fact that Katie walks the same floors that her great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather and mother walked. My father is very attached to the family house and I pray that when his time comes he will die quietly in his house just like his father before him.

As for Katie, she misbehaved and was an embarrassment on more than one occasion. For some reason that is how Katie acts when we go to my parents'. It might have something to do with the fact that to Grandma, Katie can do no wrong. She was also super whiny which I attribute to her not getting enough sleep. It was difficult for her to take her afternoon naps when there was so much "excitement" going on downstairs. Also because it stays light out in the U.P. to way past ten o'clock at night, Katie won't observe her usual bedtime.

That's just a small selection of the photos that I took while home. Like always it was good to go home, but it was also bittersweet. Mom's Alzheimer's is not getting worse, but also not getting better. Dad is still sharp as a tack but his ability to talk has not expanded beyond yes, no and oh shit. At this point, I pray that they will be around next summer so Katie and I can visit with them once again.