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Track Season 2019
The Annapolis track season ended and James had a great time participating both as a shot putter and also as a discus thrower. This year was a little more difficult logistically due to the flooding, raining, and probably most important, construction on Annapolis which made visiting some of these events nearly impossible and postponed several track meets.
Despite the logistical issues it was a fine season and James had a great time participating in his second (sophomore) season of track at Annapolis High School.
Mothers Day 2019
Mothers day started off the same way as others, with a picture of James and his Mom in front of the house. We picked up some flowers at Kroger on the way to the cemetery, the weather fighting back rain constantly throughout the day made for a windy day with little annoying drops of water from time to time. However we did manage to get the flowers out. We did take pics of all the graves with flowers so mission accomplished despite the poor weather.
Next was the antique store in Flint, which had added an airplane with skeletons to their display, and only at a cost of 2,500 you too can have a crashed airplane in your living room.
Next stop was a visit to Grandma’s as today was James visits Grandma day. After dropping James off, Mom went to a couple more antique stores before we finally stopped in for Mothers Day dinner.
A great Mothers day despite the weather.
Magic Flea Market 2019
Mom was a little sick this day so James and his Dad had to handle the 2019 Magic Flea Market in Colon Michigan, the Magic Capital of the World. We did not have any magic to sell so Jame sold some of the Halloween freebies he gives you at his Halloween party and did pretty alright.
The flea market began at 9am, although setup was from 8am till 9am. At noon their is an auction and each table auctions one thing off. After the auction everyone went to Abbotts where they were having a 10% off everything sale.
There was lots of great stuff this year, but not much Halloween (except for James table). We saw a mutilated parasol, A Duck Bucket, a Find The Lady effect, and even a light and heavy chest among the hundreds if not thousands of used magic be sold here today.
Michigan Memorial Maps and Photos 2019
Today we took a day off from work and went to Michigan Memorial to finalize Pegs grave marker. Shown on the left is a preview of what to expect, it should be finished in 8 weeks and we are hoping everyone can get together around labor day for a little reunion.
People may have noticed that part of the wall near where Peg was buried is being removed, this is to make room for a stations of the cross monument where all the stations will be honored. It should be completed in 5 years so there will still be a landmark to find these graves for us.
We did travel to the 3 grave sites that we are most familiar with and had Michigan Memorial create maps on how to get to these areas. Each is identified by a block number which makes it easy to find the location on the main map (included with each block pdf). two secondary maps are also included in the pdf which show the exact location of the graves in the block. Please note if you see green in the one map that means that plots are available to buy. We will do these in order.
Block 6 We Call The Kleiber Plots – This has James Great Grandma Kleiber, James Great Grandma Kleiber, and James Great Uncle Raymond Kleiber who died in WW2 and was the first in the family buried at Michigan Memorial Cemetery. This is located near the first entrance to the cemetery from Huron River Drive, not the main entrance. When you come in through the entrance look for a bench on the right, the graves are about ten yards to the right (north) of that bench. You can find maps to block 6 in the link below –
also there are pictures in the gallery below to help.
Block 24 We Call The Graf Plots – This is the largest block of relatives with 12 plots owned by the family and 9 currently used. James Grandma and Grandpa Kleiber, Great Uncle Joe, Great Aunt Louise and her Husband Harry, Great Grandmother Graf, Great Grandfather Graf, Cousin Mark, and most recently Aunt Peg. To find this simply stay right when you enter the main entrance until you see the long brick wall (or crucifix island). FYI, the wall is being turned into a Stations of the Cross monument and should be complete in 5 years. You can find maps to block 24 in the link below –
Block 29 We Call The Kelly Plot – This is where Natalies husband and child lay in rest. If you are going there from “the wall” veer to the left at the fork and go straight till you see a hill on the right. A landmark is a small building with a street next to it which can be seen in the gallery below. You can find maps to block 29 in the link below –
This Kelly grave was the hardest of the three to find for us so I used my phone to get gps coordinates for the grave, they are below. (we will try it out for accuracy next visit which should be Moms Day, weather permitting)
Latitude (LAT): 42.117504
N 42°7’3.01368″
Longitude (LONG): -83.349019
W 83°20’56.46804″
also there are pictures in the gallery below to help.
The Great Flood of 2019
James warned us about this storm, it started about 11pm and pretty much went on all night. The next morning I left for work, saw a few flooded streets but didn’t think much of it (I was heading North at the time).
Coming home I came in from the South and saw what was going on as the Creek had flooded and most of the area around powers was unpassable. Almost every street was flooded to varying degrees. We walked a block before we could go no further because the water went over the sidewalk. There were several areas I saw on the way hom where the flood waters were so high you could drown in them (they were higher than a car). The worst one I saw was on Outer Drive beneath 94 where it was completely flooded and the road was closed. The worst one on the news was Telegraph near Van Born where people had to leave their homes. An emergency location for people to go to was set up at the rec center at Swapka field, although you would have to travel through floods to get there.
Lots of wet brakes today in Dearborn Heights.
Easter 2019
A very rainy weekend but Easter sunday turned out to be the best day of the year and James did a little work on the garage because it was so nice. We had a visitor to the garage, a local kitty came by to get its tummy rubbed.
James went to a breakfast fundraiser by the seniors at his high school where he got his picture taken with the Annapolis mascot and also the Easter Bunny. He enjoyed the pancake breakfast as well. This took place on Palm Sunday. In between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday James had his first track meet as well so it was a busy Easter week for us.
We had VIP ham this year. Jame’s VIP camp was selling them as a fundraiser so we bought one along with a few other food items they were selling. The ham was spiral sliced and very very good as everyone enjoyed it.
This was our first Easter without Aunt Peg and it felt a little strange not visiting her as we used to always stop by holiday weekends and see her. We displayed her sympathy cards on the piano along with the Easter decorations and placed her flowers from the funeral in the window in her memory.
Grosse Isle 2019
Its been a very long time since we visited Grosse Isle, a small island in the Detroit River between Canada and Trenton that is easily accessed by a bridge. It was a gorgeous day and we wanted to do a nice spring drive. Already activity was taking place on the river, mostly boats probably getting out of dock for the first this year and getting the “rust” off.
I remember going to the firework store that used to be on this island, somewhere near a wishing well if I recall correctly. The island has not changed much and is still in the shadow of the Trenton dump if you look the wrong way, but today it was simply beautiful, even the dump. It was nice to get away if only for a few minutes after the events of the last week.
Michigan Memorial Graves 2019
It seems like we just left Michigan Memorial after watching Peg being buried, but we felt that we had to go back because we wanted to check on the temporary marker that was purchased a few days earlier.
It was there so we felt good about that, but then realized we should have brought some of the flowers from the funeral home to the graveyard to place on the graves. Oh well, they will have to wait till Mothers day and Memorial day, but it will be extra sad this year because now Peg is out here. She used to be the one who really maintained the graves but now I guess that has been passed on to James and us.
Afternoons With Grandma
James enjoys spending time with his Grandma and he always comes home happy. On this visit it was a little sad due to the loss of Aunt Peg. Grandma and James worked on tributes to Aunt Peg during their time together. It was good for James to get a little closure by writing his feelings about Aunt Peg in a tribute.
On usual visits James and Grandma start things off with a meal of Kentucky Fried chicken, then move on to whatever activities they have planned for that day (sometimes its ancestry.com, other times its coin collecting or going through old photo albums, etc). A few hours later James calls home and has us pick him up. Its a nice little monthly or so routine that both he and Grandma enjoy.
Remembering Peg Turowski 1946-2019
Here is a link to Pegs Memorial Page at Howe Peterson Funeral
Margaret A. (Peg) Turowski age 72 of Melvindale went to be with our Lord on Saturday, March 30, 2019. Margaret was born the daughter of Charles and Loretta Kleiber in Wyandotte, Michigan. Margaret leaves behind her sister Criss (husband Kenny), a brother Charles (wife Mary, son James), her long time companion of 38 years Richard Rice, and many cousins.
Margaret graduated Lowery High School in the “Class of 65” and went on to Henry Ford College to further her education. Margaret was trained as a computer key punch operator and worked with computers long before most of us ever heard of Windows, converting written data into something the computers could process.
Margaret enjoyed traveling especially to tropical climates. Hawaii, Bahamas, Florida, California, etc. were all places she enjoyed. She loved Disneyland and Disney World, her favorite live musical was “Phantom of the Opera”, and probably her favorite place on earth was the Hudson Christmas display in Detroit.
Margaret was very generous and contributed to many charity’s. When a softball team was doing poorly she donated $200 to them to buy new bats. When a gravesite needed a marker Margaret would help finance it. The charities that Margaret donated too is far to many to list here. Margaret was a “do’er” in this world!
Margaret was Catholic and lived by a doctrine of Christ and a love of family. In fact, almost every weekend of her life she was visiting family, whether it was playing cards with her Aunt Louise, touring Michigan shorelines with her Mother Loretta, or playing at the park with her nephew James, she loved her family dearly and would do anything for them.
Peg lived in Oakwood and was James closest relative (distance wise) so she saw alot of the little guy. She was listed with the school as the first contact should an emergency arise with James and we are unable to be reached. We used to get together each weekend if possible and James always looks forward to the visits and hurries to the car, then plays hard to get with her when she asks for a kiss or hug.
