Sunday poetry

Many, Many Memories

Olive burgers and Long Island Iced Teas at Dagwood’s. Samosas, pratas and butter chicken. Waiting on the porch for the red van to appear at the corner of Madison and Seymour. Listening for footsteps on the rickety stairs and the sliding glass door to open.

Olga’s and Holland. Jiffy Mix and the Teddy Bear Factory. Pumpkins at the Country Mill and band concerts at Hope Middle School. Ed Debevics in Chi-town and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

Feeding giraffe at Binder Park Zoo. Buggy rides through Central Park, ferry rides to Ellis Island and losing the love of my life at Madame Tussauds.

Chasing our laughing kids around the kitchen and dining room and Great Room and foyer and kitchen and dining room and Great Room and foyer and kitchen and dining room and Great Room and foyer.

Water slides, bike rides and Four Square in the driveway with Rachel. Hawk Island, Valhalla Park, Kensington and Lake Lansing Park North. The crane game at Meijer’s and swimming lessons at the MAC.

Triple Goddess and the Traveler’s Club. Shopping at Horrock’s and Old Town. Water slides at Great Wolf Lodge. FunTyme, Zap Zone and the Ingham County Fair. Mega Millions and Power Ball.

Scheduled appointments with Zouaoui, Sood, Watson, West and Burkhart and unscheduled ones at Redi-Care.

Snow leopards and hay rides at Potter Park Zoo. Art fairs in Ann Arbor, East Lansing and Grand Ledge. Lawn-mowing and Frisbee-tossing at Nani’s. Drinking wine and reading out loud from The Sun.

Incense and Jacuzzi baths. Air hockey at Pinball Pete’s. Canoeing at Soule Survivor weekend and sleeping in the van. Winning a “beach tree” at the Festival of Trees.

Getting an “A” tattoo in Old Town and eating at the Lansing City Market. Grilling salmon and asparagus on the deck and hitting baseballs in the backyard. Pushing rainwater out of the canopy with golf clubs and baseball bats. Destination Imagination and the Wizard of Oz. Chess and backgammon and Wii bowling and archery.

Ten-speeds from Dick’s and sleds and skates from Dunham’s. Decorating outside for Halloween and Christmas. Exchanges at Tim Hortons and Holt Rams football. Taking the kids to Douglas J.

Basketball tryouts and cleaning the garage. Mowing the lawn and shoveling the driveway. Climbing walls and camping up north. Lowe’s and Menards, Michael’s and Meijer’s, Kroger’s and Sam’s Club, World Market and Auto Zone.

Saying the things.

Christmas trees from Tannenbaum Farms and buckets of popcorn at Celebration Cinemas. The Bubble Man at the Delhi Township Library and the Apple Butter Festival at Fenner Nature Center.

Ben and Jerry.

Cool D. and the Pickle Queen, Wonder Dog and Monkey, Patman and B-Boy, Bubba and Buddy, Squid and Noodles and Nikita the Chickita, Fat Daddy Pat and Kumari, my sweet Kumari.

“House Hunters” and “Million Dollar Listing” and “Auction Hunters” and “Pawn Stars” and “Salon Takeover” and “What Not to Wear” and “Amazing Race” and “Cake Boss” and “Top Chef” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Family Guy” and “King of Queens” and “iCarly” and “Dora the Explorer.” (Swiper, no swiping!)

Choosing an RV at the MSU Pavilion for when we retire and hit the road.

Hot and readys from Little Caesars. Coneys by the MAC and subs from Jimmy John’s. Biscuits and gravy from Bob Evans, meatloaf from Boston Market, burgers from Barley’s, burritos from Los Tres Amigos and free crab rangoons from China East Buffet.

Ice cream from the MSU Dairy. Being Tourists in our Own Town: sailboats on Lake Lansing, star shows at the planetarium and paddle boats at Burchfield Park. Impression 5, MSU Museum and MoMA.

Judy Harris, Mrs. Mangopoulous, Mrs. Freed, Mr. Cotter, Mrs. Carmer, Field Day, Grandparents Day, Halloween and pride-inducing parent-teacher conferences at Midway Elementary. Cub Scouts in the gym at Elliott and the Pinewood Derby at Holt United Methodist.

Writing in the sand at Whitefish Point. Tahquamenon Falls and fireworks at Stone Mountain. The garage sale, the Fleetwood Diner and Old Country Buffet. Sitting in the bleachers at Holt High School’s pool. The Manistee Fourth of July parade and cooking food in the cramped hotel room.

Watching the kids dance in the dark at the Jackson Cascades and make pancakes while standing on chairs. Coffee and steamers from Beaners Biggbys and reading blog posts over the phone. Making coffee in the morning and salad at night.

Our MSUFCU Kickoff Kid.

Picking up prescriptions at the CVS drive-thru and taking the french horn in to be fixed at Marshall Music. Rallying and protesting with the kids at the Capitol.

So many memories, lessons, experiences and mistakes. So much love and laughter and hope and commitment. So many challenges and frustrations and good times and bad. Such a family. Such a life.

The glass was always more than half full.