Family Ties 8/10/16

I don’t know how to put into words what a fun, strange, wacky, emotional and unbelievable 48 hours these have been – especially for Ted, but for me also.

A few months ago, when all the research and DNA testing came together and Ted realized he really did have living blood relatives beside Julie, Jordan and Matthew, those relatives all existed in a hazy, almost other-worldly place “out there” somewhere.  We knew Ted’s birth mother’s family on paper and then from phone visits, emails and texts, and finally from packages that began to arrive in the mail with photos and family records.

On Monday, that hazy other-worldly place turned into flesh and blood in the form of Linda and Mike – two very real, warm, laughing, chatting, and filled-with-stories first cousins (one by blood, one by marriage).  We’ve talked into the nights, laughed, and shed a few tears.  We’ve been amazed at similarities between Ted and Linda (and between Ted and other cousins – according to Linda).  In photographs we’ve seen of some of the Lachmann men (cousins and uncles), it’s like looking at photos of Ted – the resemblance is striking.

Besides talking about family histories, we also tried to show Linda and Mike some of “our” Mackinac.  They’d both been to the island before, but only on day trips.  We quickly learned they’d spent most of their island time downtown, so we set out to acquaint them with a little broader look at Mackinac.

While we were waiting to catch a carriage tour, we discovered that one of Linda and Mike’s passions is geo-caching. They had loaded the coordinates of several caches into their phones before making the trip, and they found one just outside the Market Street Inn.

Mike and Linda writing in their geo-caching names before returning the papers back where they found them.

Cousins – with Fort Mackinac in the background.

We had a great private carriage tour set up by Joe Plaza (special thanks to Blake, our tour guide and driver). The tour included many special spots on Mackinac – like Fort Holmes . . .

. . . Lookout Point (overlooking Sugar Loaf) . . .

the Village, the cemeteries, Skull Cave, and the East and West Bluffs.

We ended our tour at Grand Hotel for lunch, and for a little rest in the rocking chairs on their famous front porch!

Heading back to town and the condo for a little down time!

Wednesday morning came way too soon, and we were back at Shepler’s . . . .

. . . and waving goodbye.

We have more of this newly found family coming on a daytrip on Saturday and two more cousins coming for a visit in September.  Mike and Linda (and other family members) winter in Florida (on the west coast), so I’m sure there are going to be other family visits when we return home.

A very special and loving thank you, Linda and Mike, for your warm welcome of Ted and me into the Lachmann clan.  We can’t wait to spend more time with you (and other family members) in the future. Love and hugs coming your way!

God bless.