Ladies and gentlemen of the germy, I am in Michigan. It's pretty surreal. I haven't been here since I was twelve years old in very late 2003 and very early 2004. A few years after my parents divorced, my sister Emily and I flew from Oakland, California to Michigan to spend the week after Christmas with the whole Estep clan for the first time since we were very little (my father was living back here with my grandparents at the time). A lot has changed since then. The digits in my age have reversed; instead of being 12, I am 21. New family members have been born, people have married, and the Estep family continues to grow.
This week, for the first time in many years, all of us will be together to celebrate my grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. I flew from St. Louis to Detroit yesterday, Emily flies from Louisville to Detroit tomorrow, and my father, his wife, and their kids will drive up from Georgia on Wednesday and get here on Thursday. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. Last time we were all together, there were seven grandchildren and one great-grandson. Now there are twelve grandchildren, three grandchildren-in-law (is that a real term?), and five great-grandchildren. My father has since remarried and his brought his wife's four kids into our great big, happy family and they have an adorable little girl together, my baby sister. It's not only an anniversary party, as my grandmother has put it, but a gigantic family reunion. I haven't seen my father, step-mother, and siblings in about five years, since I was sixteen. I haven't seen my oldest sister and brother in even longer, since I was last up here. I haven't seen Emily, whom I grew up with, in about six months. Words cannot express how excited I am for all of this to happen. (And though I say the Estep family continues to grow, don't expect me to contribute to the number of great-grandkids any time soon.)
I'll be here for two weeks, and then it's straight up north with Lauren, Deb, and David. We'll spend a few touristy days in Québec City before Lauren and I move into our respective dorms, at which point our study abroad experience will begin. But you all already know about that. There's a lot in store for this summer besides this big family bonanza: vocal coaching with one of my favorite singers, seeing Bruno Pelletier in concert after three years. . . . Oh, yeah, and studying. That, too. That's kind of the whole point of going up to Québec in the first place, but we don't worry about that. (Although I am terrified that I'll make a fool of myself while trying to speak French.)
While packing, I actually accomplished quite the feat in that I only forgot one thing, albeit an important thing: my laptop charger. And, of course, it took a dead battery in my laptop for me to search for the adapter and realize that it wasn't with me. I'm currently using my grandma's, but I ordered another charger for fairly cheap, so that should arrive soon.
Now I'm going to go write. Noodles.
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