Memory Lane - From I-75 to "I 75!" (August to October 1989)

As the summer of '89 wound down, we were looking forward to a couple of fall special events. But before then there was a little unfinished business to tend to. 

First, we made the familiar trip up I-75 to Linwood for an end-of-summer Burk family get-together. It was fairly well attended, all were there but my sister Wendy's arm of the family. Here's a shot of the cousins that did attend, expressing their familial joy.

That would be from left to right daughters Cathy and Christine, Dee Dee (my niece) and son Ted. Little darlings all.

Here's a shot of the full entourage, taking time out from the fun to document the gathering. 

From left to right is yours truly, Christine, Nancy, Dee Dee (in front), sister Cindy behind Ted with Cathy on his lap, mom Dolores (with dog BB on her lap) next to dad Wendell, with sister-in-law Sue and brother Jeff in front. 

There was the usual multigenerational cribbage games, Mom's home cooking, Dad's homemade wine, and everyone's attempts to correct everyone else's memories about past family doings. It would be our last get-together for awhile as most of us were about to return to the fall crush of jobs and school. I disagree with the old adage that you can't go home again. You can, you just can't stay that long. 

The second end-of-summer ritual was Christine's birthday. Her eighth. The thought I had looking at the pictures from the party was how expressive her face was as she cycled through her repertoire of moods. She was into it. She started with what appears to be, "What, this again?"

Which quickly morphed into, "If we have to, let's get on with it."

But after presentation of the red-velvet cake with pink icing she shifted to, "Wow, great! And are those presents over there?"

The gifting portion of the ceremony had its usual affect. That would be a cresting of excitement followed by a slow descent into contentment. 

And finally, the revelation. "I'm eight now. What does it all mean?" For Christine, always an important question.

The birthday party was a smallish gathering. There were only two non-adult guests. The first you can probably guess. Old what's-her-name. Complete with party dress and funny hat.

The second was a big surprise, even to Nancy and me. It was my niece Dee Dee (short for Dolores) shown here during the cake presentation. Again, party dress and funny hat.

My brother and his family arrived a day or so before the party for an unannounced visit. I should note that I hardly go anywhere without an itinerary and reservations, but just showing up somewhere unexpectedly has a long history in my family. 

My grandparents would occasionally just show up at our house in Bay City, sometimes towing a mobile home, and stay for a couple of weeks. My grandfather worked in power plant construction all over the country. And when traveling between projects he and my grandmother would "just happened to be in the neighborhood". They seemed to enjoy surprising us. It was great fun for me and my siblings as my grandparents were kindly and interesting. But I'm sure my parents would have preferred a little notice. 

My brother and his family, who live in the Gaylord area, have through the years demonstrated the same habit. Occasional visits to our home or our cottage, usually but not always on their way to another destination, and hardly ever with any notice. We always enjoyed the visits, but would have enjoyed them more with a little planning. But, I guess we each are who we are.

I would say that our kids also liked this surprise visit for the same reason I and my siblings loved seeing my grandparents. Nancy and I were a little off our game, adjusting meals and sleeping arrangements to fit the moment. But we did manage to capture this pic of Uncle Jeff winning the day for a couple of happy cousins.

Then came September and some travel for us. First was a trip to the Toronto area to attend the 40th wedding anniversary celebration of Nancy's Uncle Ken and Aunt Evelyn. I've told the story more than once of our close relationships with the Canadian branch of the family. We made the trip with Nancy's Parents Rae and Marge and our girls.

It was a well-attended event as Ken and Evelyn had a very large social circle. In looking through the family album I found a few pics worth noting. The first is of Rae, Marge and Nancy's brother Dave enjoying the moment in their sartorial best. 

This candid shot caught Nancy's cousins Lynne (on the left) and Ann with sister-in-law Barb (on the right) in the kitchen, preparing (or perhaps sampling?) the hors d'oeuvre. 

Finally I found this pic of second cousins Christine, Cathy and Lynne's son Andrew representing the next generation of our multinational family. 

Back from Toronto we packed up and headed west to visit our very good friends Kathi and Tom in the Chicago area, Winnetka to be precise. 

Kathi and Nancy have been friends since elementary school and roomed together in college. They have kept their friendship alive through the years, as have Kathi's husband Tom and I since meeting in the very early '80s. The four of us have much in common, including "surviving" the ins and outs of raising a pair of daughters. Also joining us on this trip was Linda C., another close friend from high school and former college roommate.

Through our continuing visits the four second-generation girls have developed their own strong friendships including Laura, Kathi and Tom's elder daughter, and our Cathy repeating history by becoming college roommates. But this 1989 visit was early in the game. The girls' relationships were just getting started. A few pics from the visit. First the players.

From left to right yours truly, Nancy with daughter Christine on her lap, Linda behind our daughter Cathy, Kathi with daughter Laura on her lap, and Tom with daughter Karen on his lap. 

On one outing during the visit we took the girls to see the Lake Michigan shore just off Winnetka. Here's a shot of four happy campers sharing the back seat of our brand-spanking-new Tiara conversion van.

The little girls took to the lakeshore cautiously. Not everyone was that impressed. 

But they soon hit their stride, becoming one with beach each in her own way.

The moms were doing pretty well, too, reminiscing perhaps on their glory days in Ann Arbor. 

As it turned out this short but sweet visit was an indicator of things to come, as you will see as my journey down Memory Lane continues.

With the arrival of October we entered the oft-mentioned LeRoy family birthday festival. First up was the dual birthdays of mother Marge and brother Dave. Dave escaped the Burk camera this time somehow, but I have this shot of Marge flanked by her attending granddaughters one of whom was now in uniform.

A few days later father Rae celebrated his 75th. We held a party for him at our house. It was well attended by the family and several of Rae's closest friends. A few pics. This first one is of Rae's brother Bill and his family. 

Flanking Uncle Bill and Aunt Jeanne are their daughter Wilma and son Johnny. As at that time most of the LeRoy extended family gatherings were hosted by the senior generation, I believe this was the only time we had all four members of Uncle Bill's family at our house at the same time. 

The next picture is of the party boy and his bride having just received the cake. From Rae's expression I would guess that the meaning of the big 75 on top of the cake is finally sinking in. 

Though it's of poor quality, I'm still including this picture as it does a much better job of capturing Rae's mood.

Rae had a very dry sense of humor and was an incorrigible punster. Upon blowing out the candles and receiving our congratulations, he grinned and announced "I 75". I'm guessing he'd been waiting to say that for quite a while. He was quite pleased with himself. (For any readers not familiar with Detroit, one can hardly go anywhere in or around the area without taking or at least crossing Interstate 75). 

The I-75 joke is so fondly remembered in our family, that when I reached that milestone a few years ago Nancy gifted me with this beauty.

Just one more pic to share. After the party was over and the guests were gone, I caught this candid shot of the chief and assistant hostesses catching their breath with a little floor time. Job well done.  

Next time we'll stick a fork in 1989, and start out on a new decade.

Grosse Pointe Charles

Memory Lane - Summer Fun (July and August 1989)

The summer of 1989 for the Burk family - big surprise - played out much like recent past summers. You know, the groove thing. So I don't really need to tell the story. But I found a few pics of noteworthy moments to offer. 

We got the summer rolling with what had become our annual stop at Story Book Gardens in London, Ontario. We were pumped.

Okay. Maybe not pumped. But comfortable. By now we knew where everything was. We worked through the usual rides and exhibits. Cathy was now big enough to ride a pony all by herself. 

She must have liked it as going to summer horse-riding camp became a major highlight of her teen years. 

This was also the first year I remember Cathy having full command of the giant rope web.

Here she is making it all the way to the top, leaving poor Christy in the lurch.

It was also the year the girls tried to take over the transportation system. But, they never got the hang of the push thing. The sit-in didn't last too long. 

Meanwhile Ted was growing into his big brother role.

This final SBG pic is a favorite. Chilling with Humpty. Life was good.

Cathy's 4th birthday arrived right on schedule. 

And it came with a milestone - her first two-wheeler.

Purple and pink to boot. And yes, it had training wheels (although as I recall they weren't needed for very long). 

Our summer was highlighted by our customary visit to the family cottage at Ipperwash Beach, which included some new activities. Like a little multigenerational swing dancing in the screened porch. I think that's probably Glen Miller you're hearing in the background. One of Rae's favorites.

There was some ambitious sand art, a la The Plains of Nazca (it helps if you squint).

Some new beach equipment.

And an uptick in home-schooling.

There were also a lot of traditional activities, like spending time in your favorite motionless position.

In retrospect, I guess motionlessness isn't actually an activity.  

There was the usual animal husbandry. 

Heidi was the ripe old age of nine by this time, and not seeing as well as she used to. This put Grandpa Rae's floor-to-ceiling porch screens at peril from time to time. I'd say more but those records have been classified. I can admit that I knew my way around the screen section at the local hardware store. 

A highlight of our time at the cottage was the generous amount of quality time we spent with the senior generation (also known as extended happy hours). Here are Aunt Evelyn and Nancy's mother Marge, our gracious co-hostesses.

Uncle Ken, tending bar. 

And Nancy's father Rae, dapper as usual, about to imbibe.

I'll close this quick look at our summer of '89 with two of our all time favorite cottage pics. The first is of the four cousins (Cathy, Christy, Heather and Andrew) running free after dinner on an otherwise deserted beach. Most of them wore shoes.

And here are Christy and Cathy ending another day in paradise with corn-husking duty. 

For the girls, corn-husking began as a "get-to-do" activity. But being the perceptive creatures they are, they eventually realized it was really a "have-to-do" activity. The change came when they tried to get out of it. Even paradise has the occasional hiccup.

Hope to see you back on Memory Lane soon.

Grosse Pointe Charles