a note from mom

Our vacation destination hit the USA Today Life front page. So our family secret is out. A beautiful bay on the northern lower peninsula of Michigan (pronounced Meeshigan). You pronounce it that way if you wear maize and blue. My husband, Jeff, was born in Ann Arbor, so he bleeds blue. We have been coming to this spot since the children were towheads... their hair bleached ultra blonde by the sunny days on the white sand beach. Those days we lugged the sand toys down the boardwalk, along with peanut better and jelly sandwiches, Goldfish and juice boxes. Now it's Bloody Mary's or Vodka Raspberry Lemonades. How do those things happen?

My daughter, Audrey, has just left. Now I understand what her grandmother, Arlene aka Nana meant when her twenty-something kids left to go back to their prospective homes. She always said that she got the blues. Audrey is soon to be 25. Smart, tall, stunning and living on her own in Chicago. She left out home in Minnesota when she was 18 and didn't look back. Oh, she loves to visit, but she has a mission to fulfill and I do believe this mission is going to require her fullest attention.

Audrey's older brother, Brandon brought his girlfriend for a second summer. I do believe this relationship is for real. They bring out the best in each other, complimentary. Like green and purple. I think those are opposite colors on the color wheel. Ryan would know if he were here, but he is in Italy for the summer. He will soon be a senior in college and that will be the end of another era in my life, no more children in college. I won't miss the bills, but I will miss the Parent's Weekends, and the football games, and the bags of dirty laundry over Thanksgiving breaks. My husband calls me the China Lady, but it's a chore I relish. The smell of them on their t-shirts.

It's 5:55 am and a sailboat just went by. You don't mind getting up early here to enjoy the sunrise and the birds. Brandon and Reina got up early each morning to walk to town, via the beach, for a cup of coffee. The Colombian dark was their favorite. Reina is a natural photographer, so she has already archived our trip on Facebook. Gorgeous pictures of fun in the sun and of the family. And it's a big family. Jeff has four younger siblings, three sisters and one brother. All in all, Grandpa Jack, has fifteen grandchildren. It's a blast watching them come back year after year. The aunts and uncles all debate who has changed the most. This year Annie won the distinction. She'll be a freshman in high school in Milwaukee. Gorgeous and sweet. You look into her eyes and you can feel her soul.

My husband brings "Uncle Jeff's boat" each summer, trailering the Malibu for 13 hours from home. The name of the game is tubing. Everyone must get initiated each summer by "skipping" across the water. In other words, thrown off into the icy waters of Lake Michigan. You can hear the girls' high pitched screams all the way up to the condo. They look so darling in their bikinis and braided hair. Cousins... what a wonderful relationship a cousin is. There is something truly genuine about a cousin. Family without any strings or hangups.