For as many summers as we were able, we would travel to northern Wisconsin to spend a week at the cottage Ben spent many summers at growing up. In those growing up years he would spend two months or more in the Northwoods. He had the advantage of his mother being a schoolteacher so she could leave life in Ohio behind for two months and bring the boys to the family cottage. Ben got to spend time with his grandparents as well as his aunts, uncles and cousins. Wisconsin was his happy place. He loved spending time there as often as he could.
Last year Sabin and I made the trek for the first time without Ben. Callie and Hunter came as well. Ben’s brother had come up a week earlier and we made plans to place Ben’s ashes in the ground at the cottage, next to his mother and his grandparents. A small group of Ben’s extended family gathered and we put Ben’s ashes in the ground. A large portion of Ben will always be at his happy place.
I wasn’t sure if we would be able to make the trek this year but it worked out that we could spend a week at the cottage. As June quickly flew by and July approached, I wasn’t really wanting to make the 8 hour drive and spend the week in WI. Sabin really wanted to go so I packed everything up while he was at worship camp at church. We left right from church and made the drive. We drove up and over on Sunday which turned out much better than traveling on Saturday. The Mackinac Bridge going north was backed up the entire length of it on Saturday. That is five miles of stop and go traffic. On Sunday there was no back up and we sailed across the bridge and through the toll booth with hardly any slow down.
We had had a late lunch so instead of stopping for dinner we made a stop at an ice cream shop to get some ice cream. We have driven by that ice cream shop every year on our way to the cottage and had never stopped. We changed that this year. We got our ice cream and got back on the road. We pulled into the cottage just before 7 pm Central time. We unpacked and then headed next door to let Ben’s aunt and uncle know we were there. We also needed to get a bucket of water to get the pump primed and going. Ben’s uncle and cousin came over and helped us get everything hooked up and the pump started. Then we worked on getting the bed made and cleaning up all the dead ants that had accumulated over the course of the year since we had been there.
It was different this year as Ben’s extended family (aunt, uncle and cousin) were gone most of the week camping near Mackinac. So it was just Sabin and I for most of the time. We made our traditional visit to the flea market on Monday. Tuesday was the 4th so we went to the Three Lakes 4th of July parade in the morning. We went to a movie one day and walked around Eagle River visiting the shops another day. Another day we went over to Ben’s cousins and made a fire and cooked hobo pies. It was a pretty low key vacation of not doing much. It was almost perfect. It definitely would have been better if Ben was still alive and was with us.
Now that we have returned home, life is going to get busy. Sabin has a couple of Bible camps to attend as well as a soccer camp for his high school team. Then he will start try-outs and practices for soccer and football. He wants to be a kicker for the football team as well as play soccer. I will be busy this fall toting him around and attending all of his games. I know that the season will go quickly as they always seem to do. But each day that passes is one day closer to eternity! I look forward to that but while I am still here on earth I will enjoy each day and what it brings us, even when there are tears.
For the Love of Ben 