brushfire"This, yes, this, it was always like this." -Stanley Koehler
REFLECTIONS OF AN EMPTY NESTER
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When I was a child, one of my favorite books was called “Fortunately.” It relayed the up-and-down journey of a little boy in a series of harrowing adventures. (Spoiler alert: it has a happy ending.) Midway in the tale, the little boy finds himself high in the sky in a single-engine plane. And then this happens. Unfortunately, the engine stopped working. Fortunately, there was a parachute in the plane. Unfortunately, the parachute didn’t open. Fortunately, there was a haystack below. Unfortunately, there was a pitchfork in the haystack. Fortunately, the boy missed the pitchfork. Unfortunately, he missed the haystack. I used to tell my children this story — until one day we lived our own “fortunately, unfortunately” adventure on a family vacation on Nantucket in Massachusetts. We had booked a ferry to the island. Unfortunately, we didn’t pay the extra fee to transport our car. Fortunately, we were told cars were discouraged on the island. Unfortunately, the house we rented was four miles from the ferry dock. Fortunately, there was a bus. Unfortunately, we didn’t think of buying groceries before we boarded the bus. Fortunately, we had bikes. Unfortunately, we had bikes only for the kids. Fortunately, there were two adult bikes in the house. Unfortunately, the tires were flat. Fortunately, there was a bike pump. You can imagine how our adventures unfolded our first morning after we woke to an empty refrigerator — and more importantly for the adults, no coffee — and tried to make the most of this challenging situation with three children under 10. On the fortunate side, we were a short hike to the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. On the less fortunate side, we needed to feed our children. Once my husband filled the tires on the spare bikes we pedaled our way to town — our 4-year-old son leading the way with his chubby little legs — and enjoyed a well-deserved breakfast. Later that day, after stocking the refrigerator and spending an afternoon on the beach, we headed back to town on our bikes again — this time for ice cream. Because what’s a summer vacation on the beach without a trip to an ice cream parlor? I was reminded of this family adventure as I prepared for this summer's sojourn to the Upper Peninsula — this time with adult children. Unfortunately, our trip was delayed for a day due to a stroke of bad luck. Fortunately, we overcame this obstacle and made the journey — our first that far in northern Michigan. Unfortunately, it's only for a week and then our kids set off for separate destinations. Fortunately, we will make the most of the time we have. This appeared in the July 5 issue of the Grosse Pointe News.
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Mary Anne BrushJournalist, fiction writer, wife and mother |