Sister Love Up North in Michigan

Anne Troxell Griffith and Jan Troxell Hover

Ron's Up North Itinerary

Last week my sister, Anne, and I traveled up to the Traverse City, Michigan, area; we followed the itinerary that Ron had made for our trips to visit the Leelanau Peninsula in the fall. Ron and I made our last trip there in 2015; last year he was on oxygen, and things were just too complicated for overnight trips, so we took day trips close to our Gilead Lake home.

We picnicked in Newaygo on our trip north and visited our favorite lighthouse at Point Betsie. We climbed to the top of the tower and saw the light that is functional and continues to keep mariners safe.

This is a buck that was in Sleeping Bear Dunes, and on our trip we also saw salmon swimming upstream, smelt at Fishtown, a soaring eagle near Traverse Bay, and a huge elk crossing the road. (at first we thought it was a moose!!)

I introduced Anne to rocking at Christmas Cove. She really enjoyed it, and I had looked for a long time before I finally found 4 Petoskey rocks, the Michigan state rock. It was a great trip; I very much enjoyed reminiscing about past fall color tours with Ron and making new memories with my sister.

Before closing, the buyers had asked if they could move things into the garage. That was not a problem for me, and I felt like we had genuinely connected. They have relatives on the lake and had been coming to Gilead for 20 years. On the day that they were moving things into the garage, I was out in the garage, too, and he said, "You are not going to believe what I have. I have Ron's Army footlocker that I bought at one of your garage sales. Would you like it back? This is the first time that I have used it since I bought it." Of course, I said yes. I know that I looked dumbfounded and felt emotional as I saw Ron's name. I am sure that my last garage sale was the 2nd summer that we lived there, 2009, because the next two summers Ron was hospitalized monthly for Chemotherapy, followed by platelet and blood transfusions in the other weeks. Then the following summers he was chronically ill.

September 26, 2017 was the 47th anniversary of our wedding day. In sickness and in health and forever. My spouses support group met that day, and about 14 of us went out for dinner. It was a good plan for a day that was difficult. My life has been blessed, and I am rich with memories of so many years together.

September 26, 1970 Mt.Zion Lutheran Church, LaGrange, Indiana

Changing Gears

September was an eventful month; now I am trying to relax more and allow myself to not feel like I have to immediately unpack everything. Easier said than done! I have been in high gear for quite a time. When I haven't read a book for a few weeks, I know I'm not relaxing much. I have planned 3 trips in the next two months. I will get to see Andrew's promotion to LTC in Hawaii, a trip to Virginia, and a fall colors trip to the Traverse City, Michigan area with my sister, Anne. We will follow Ron's itinerary.
The closing on our Gilead Lake home was nerve-wracking for a few days, but everything came together on Monday. And that stress was after all of the moving trips and auction were done! Relief is definitely my prevailing mood now, so I am hoping that will lead to being able to relax. My project now involves all of the changes that moving my residency from Michigan to Ohio create. My life will be much more simple with only one home.

Being so busy helps to delay letting things just sink in. I need to take time to do that.