Detroit

Detroit, originally uploaded by koreyward06.

I spent the past weekend in my father's hometown of Detroit, MI. It was an interesting, tiring, and emotional weekend. It was also tons of fun, probably more fun than it is safe to have within three days. It rained, it was muggy, there was lightening, there was a tornado, it was hot, it was smoky, it made me miss my family that lives there even more and appreciate my home here in California as much as I should.

I have a wonderful, large, CRAZY family out there that misses me, loves me, and would do anything to protect me (really. anything.) In the midst of what was a pretty terrible week, I had a group of people waiting to see my face again, waiting to hug me again, and hear my voice again, and I realized all that I am thankful for.

I'll admit, it's hard to be there for long. They stay up late, smoke, and drink, none of which I do. There were arguments and fights, and Josh was basically tried before a biased jury of Wards. It was noisy and boisterous and real. It was emotional to be back in Lincoln Park, the suburb where my grandparents bought their house right after their wedding and after the war, the house they raised five kids in, the house my grandmother still lives in. I had a flood of memories of this place where I spent the summers of my youth. My mom would take my brother and I at least a week earlier than my dad would arrive to see his own family so that he could work as much as possible. My mom was always so well loved by his family that I never understood that marriages were the combination of two families, for mine has always just been one. It was hard to enter the airport terminal, remembering when my uncle Dave took us there once at the end of a wonderful trip. We sat in an airport restaraunt and talked and he left only when we had to go through the metal detectors and prepare to board. I could remember watching the sky outside of the terminal windows turn black and start to pour. My uncle turned right around and picked us back up, as though he knew instantly that we wouldn't be able to fly. He was all smiles as though the rainstorm was part of his plan. We spent one more night with him and repeated our goodbyes the following morning. That was the last time I ever saw him.

I teared up several times on this trip, for various reasons.
I appreciate my circumstances, and the fact that I can afford to travel there again to see this wild, unpredictable group of people who love me with hearts so large. Their love is limitless and perfect. It is rambunctious and angry at times. It is just what I need to reaffirm my existence on this globe. Thank you, God, for giving me this family. I only hope that I deserve their love. Thank you, Ward family, for teaching me countless lessons about how to live and love.