A Trip to Michigan

Myles slept his way through Halloween stuffed into a skeleton jump suit...the chubbiest skeleton ever. We didn't even get a photo! We had lots of fun in West Asheville with the Burnets and their neighbors, and strolled a tired Myles through the night, which was a beautiful one with the changing leaves at sunset. On Tuesday, I received a call from my friend Erin saying that her dad had died early in the morning. I met Erin at the bead station in kindergarten, our sisters are best friends, and she's like a sister to me. She's one of those friends who is a "lifer," I imagine we will attend the weddings of each other's kids one day. Her dad was diagnosed with cancer after my dad, and so all of this has happened so fast. And Erin will be married within two weeks, we were all so hopeful that her dad would walk her down the aisle. It was a very hard phone call to receive, and Seth and I knew that we wanted to go up to Detroit to be with her family at his funeral on Friday. It was even more important because my sister was too pregnant to fly across the country, and my mom and dad were on a business trip for my dad's work, so I was the only member of the Voss family who could go. We set out on Thursday at 1:00pm after putting in a half day at work. How grateful we are that we have enough job flexibility to go when we need to. We dropped Junie at pet soup, and began our drive up to Detroit. Our plan was to stay in Toledo, and Seth had booked a nice hotel with an indoor pool so we could have a short swim with Myles in the morning before setting off again. Our plans were disrupted when, at 10:30pm outside of Sidney, Ohio, we got a flat tire. Seth changed it (thanks to ASP, we have two adults in the family capable of changing a flat). We decided not to drive on the spare all the way to Toledo in the dark of night, and let's just say the Econo-lodge in Sidney is more "econo" than "lodge." We set out at 5:30am, called my dad who found a Belle Tire in Michigan south of Detroit that opened at 8:00am. At 8:05 we rolled in, were out on the road again by 9:00am, and arrived at the funeral with five minutes to spare. Thanks be to God, because I really thought we might not make it. The funeral was an incredible tribute to a wonderful man, Jack Dalton. In his spirit, it was a celebration of life even as we expressed our grief. Stories were told of the time Jack talked his cousin into throwing snowballs at a cop car when they were kids, how he got rid of chipmunks in the backyard when Erin and I were kids (a story not to be repeated by an animal lover, suffice it to say it was funny in a Jack Dalton way), and the love that he had for his wife and daughters. I got to meet Liam, Jack's first grandchild, who is just 4 months old and a blessed reminder of new life in the midst of death. On the way home we saw my folks and had the opportunity to hold Sawyer, my sweet 2 week old nephew who was so tiny and content in the chaos of three boys. The photos show Myles with his oldest cousin Ashton (3 and a half), and my dad reading a story to the two of them. Ashton is very interested in babies, and very sweet with Myles and Sawyer. My dad continues to face chemo with an incredible spirit, mindful of the moment, even when he's feeling tired. This trip was a reminder (as if we needed one) that cancer is so tough, but the human spirit is deep and resilient. The weekend ended with an All Saints Day service at church today. A saint, my colleague says, is anyone who inspires us in our faith journey and brings us closer to God. We had the opportunity to light a candle in honor of someone who has died who we want to honor and remember, or any saint in our lives, living or dead. The blaze was incredible, and we were reminded that we're not alone. So many have gone before us and walk beside us even now. Thanks be to God.