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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.
James Varsity Jacket
James varsity jacket came in and it was still cold enough outside that he got a chance to wear it. James only wore it the one day as the temps warmed up and James said that the jacket was very warm being leather and all. Not that we don’t enjoy James wearing his jacket but with spring here we are hoping he won’t have to wear it till after Halloween 2019.
James got his letter last year for track shot put and we ordered it from Park athletic in Allen Park, a sporting good store that was in business when James Dad was his age.
Autorama With Racing Legend Tony Stewart 2019
Nascar driver and owner Tony Stewart was on hand at the Autorama in Detroit and James, Mom, and Dad all got to meet him and get an autographed picture.
We first noticed people lining up a couple hours before Tony was scheduled to show so we went and saw the exhibits then got in line around noon. The wait was a little under two hours but it was worth it. Tony was very pleasant and friendly to everyone and James got to shake his hand. Tony was only here in Detroit for a couple hours so we were able to get plenty of pictures of “Smoke” while waiting in line. James was very happy at the end of the day with his autographed 8×10 of Tony.
Tony has been our favorite driver in the family since before James was born and now as an owner we all root for Tony’s team (including Kevin Harvick and Cling Boyler as part of Stewart Haas racing) All in all a fun time for all and plenty of autographs to go around
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Autorama 2019
Autorama,also known as “World of Wheels”, made its way to Detroit’s Cobo Hall this weekend and James and his family made the most of their visit to the “D”. However, todays visit was a complete surprise to the family as Dad surprised them with tickets to the event (AKA America’s Premier Custom Show Car Series). James and his mother did not even know where they were going till we were in the car on 94 and well on our way to Detroit. While they had plenty of hot rods there as advertised, we were very happy to find lots more including plenty of toys and hard to find collectible. Mom picked up a t shirt and James picked up a metal Ford plaque while we were looking the cars (including the ultimate car, the Bat Mobile), Its been a while since we have been to Cobo Hall in Detroit, and we were surprised to find out that the Hall of Fame plaques had been moved since our last visit.
Canterbury Village 2019
On a cold February day we took a little jaunt to Canterbury Village to check out the shops. In a week they will be hosting a home garden show so we felt this would be a good time to visit. Everyone found something unique at these stores to bring home. Olde World Canterbury Village and Aldridge’s Always Christmas celebrated it’s grand opening October 1, 1993. The original Wildwood Farm buildings used by the Hadrills, Scripps and Keating have all been carefully restored and continue to be productive while preserving an important chapter in Michigan’s history.
