A series of essays....
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| A JOURNEY FOR TWO..... SUNSET AT BARNES COUNTY PARK, LAKE MICHIGAN |
....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
It continues to amaze me how I can see my father’s nose while looking into the mirror. I’ve always resembled my mother in every way, except in stature, (she stood a mighty 5’ 2” with me towering over her at 5’ 7”). But, dad’s nose is there now....right down to the tiny indentation along the right tip. I only ask that his hyper, elongated ears do not follow me into my near future! If so, I may never be able to wear dangle earrings again!
Age has a way of sneaking up on us; literally changing and drawing us into the history and stories that shaped our lives in the first place.
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| KEN BURNS INTERVIEWED BY PBS |
Recently, when asked why he chose Country Music as the topic for his current PBS Documentary, Ken Burns replied, “It’s all about the wonderful stories. The words and the songs and the stories of country music will live with all of us, forever.” Storytellers keep the words alive the way all art tells the tale of us coming together by laughing, loving, hating, feeling profoundly sad, hoping, dreaming, and showing kindness towards one another.
This is my latest story...
Driving back to Kalamazoo this past Sunday after enjoying a weekend of wedding anniversary celebration near Petoskey, we decided we were hungry and the town of Hastings loomed on the horizon. Hastings had always been a town we drove through to get to another place and had never stopped to eat or shop there before. Slowly driving through the downtown area, it was a crapshoot as to which restaurant was even open on an early Sunday evening. Walldorff Brewpub & Bistro looked promising.
We had been seated in a booth along the far wall and while waiting for our beverages to arrive, we discussed our weekend of hiking, witnessing spectacular sunsets over Lake Michigan, our drive through the Tunnel of Trees just north of Petoskey, and walking under the canopy of some of the tallest pine trees we’d ever seen at Hartwick Pines State Park.
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| THE HOUSE ON THE HILL |
Our beautiful French farmhouse in Ellsworth was appropriately named, The House on the Hill, as it overlooked Saint Clair Lake and golden sunrises that seemed to set the shimmering water on fire. The B&B’s close proximity to everything we wanted to experience in that area of Pure Michigan served us well.
After setting our drinks down and placing our dinner order, Heather, our waitress, came back to our booth and looked a bit shy and awkward as she smiled down at us. Finally, she said, “I am not at liberty to tell you who It is, however, your entire meal has been taken care of this evening.”
Say what?
“But we don’t know anyone here in Hastings,” Dan said, looking stealthily around the large room. My gut reaction was expressed by asking, “How does anyone here even know that today is our anniversary?”
“It is?” our ponytailed, young waitress queried. “This is exciting and this will be passed on to them, for sure. They will be so happy and amazed.”
Evidently, sworn to secrecy, Heather smiled and left to see if our dinners were ready. My only hope at the time was that our mouths didn’t stand agape with incredulity for too long. Not the most appealing look, for sure. Perhaps this would have been the reaction our unknown benefactor was looking for. Well, he, she, or they were not disappointed then!
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| VIEW FROM OUR PORCH |
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| CHARLEVOIX, MICHIGAN |
Speculation was rampant on our part and we realized that it was an interesting and semi-uncomfortable feeling to be watched by others and not be able to reciprocate the eye-to-eye contact with a corresponding look in their direction. Let alone, not know exactly who to thank for such a kind gesture.
Having built several multi-family projects in the area many years ago, Dan imagined that someone who may have worked for him had recognized him after all this time. He then reasoned that they would want to make contact and say hello if this were the case. I could see Dan’s eyes searching for clues, faces aged by nearly thirty years of living, or someone giving us a fleeting glance of recognition. However, absolutely nothing....
This is when the eyes secretly dance around the room while the head remains perfectly still. The brain (voice of reason) automatically asks the question, why us? And, after several moments, the heart begins to fill with warmth and gratefulness and you speculate that maybe, just maybe, someone does this on a regular basis because, quite simply, they want to. Secretly observing the various reactions of their surprised recipients may give them pleasure and something to look forward to.
Just as our fertile brains began to piece together our unexpected yet totally delightful circumstances and time left us to wonder what the criteria was in making their final selection, we were eating our last few bites of fish & chips and warm chicken sandwich. Suddenly, our waitress glides up with a large piece of cheesecake laced with berry compote and rich caramel and places it on the table between us. We immediately noticed that the letters, HA (Happy Anniversary), were emblazoned in caramel along the inside of the stark, white dish.
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| READY FOR DESSERT |
“They were delighted it is your anniversary and would like you to celebrate with dessert.” By now, we felt like we’d become old friends with our entertaining ‘twenty-something’ and her conspiratorial half smile still lingers on my mind.
Like two kids sitting at the local soda fountain, we leaned in, forks at the ready, and savored each blissful bite.
Heather returned to our table to ask if there was anything else we required and wished us a very happy anniversary, once again. If we could not thank our benefactors personally, we asked if she would be kind enough to do so for us, to which she wholeheartedly agreed.
“They must be regulars here at the restaurant,” I stated. Heather nodded in agreement.
“Yes, they love doing this and when we see them come in, one of us on the staff knows we’ll be passing their gift of kindness to another table during the evening. I don’t know why or how they choose who they do....they haven’t told us that. But, they were delighted that you were celebrating a milestone in your lives and told me this has never happened before. This made them very happy, too!”
“Please let them know that their gift truly made our day extra special,” I said.
“Yes,” Dan agreed. “And the total surprise of being treated so kindly will never be forgotten.”
Smiling, Heather’s eyes sparkled and we could tell that this whole thing made her and all of the staff as happy about being a part of it as anyone else. Wow, what a win, win, win situation this was.
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| WALLDORFF BREWPUB & BISTRO |
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| BISTRO SEATING |
You can believe Dan and I talked about everything that transpired over and over again on the comparatively short drive back home. The answer to the question of why us?, as well as digesting the myriad of circumstances that led us to that town, down that street, to that restaurant, at that particular time, remain phenomenal and, of course, unanswered.
But, when all is said and done, Dan and I ask ourselves, “Why not us?” We know we will be eternally blessed by this experience, anxious to do the same for someone else one day, soon, and always willing to open our hearts to the kindness of others. Fortunately, as a storyteller myself, I am able to share our anniversary blessing with all of you.
Like the continuous stories created through country music that get passed along from generation to generation, the simple stories of storytellers will help to preserve a way of life that may otherwise be forgotten and lost to all of us...forever.
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| DAN STANDING NEAR TALL PINES AT HARTWICK PINES STATE PARK |
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| LOOKING UP INTO THE CANOPY |
Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights preserved
Photos Copyright © 2019 by Jacqueline E Hughes
