Mom and Lake Michigan

Fifteen years ago this week.

I think this is Christmas Cove, which is north and west of Northport. Fundamentally, though, the precise location doesn't really matter; it's a beach, and that's Lake Michigan.

My father passed away in November of 1990. A few months later I got a call from Mom, who'd decided to escape to Traverse City for a few days and invited me to come along. Of course I accepted.

So in March of 1991 we spent a long weekend visiting places she and Dad had been frequenting for decades--Leland, Northport, Suttons Bay; the beaches at Glen Haven, at Peterson Park, at both Traverse Bay lighthouses, at Christmas Cove. We had meals at Fischers, at Dills, at the Bluebird. We stopped at Jolli-Lodge; since I'd not been there before, she gave me a little walking tour. Then she arranged with the Jolliffes for her summer vacation.

But mostly we walked the beaches, Mom lost in her thoughts, me lost in mine. Dad was a beach-walker, and a collector of Petoskey Stones. He was on our minds, and in our hearts.