In August 1987, I went on my very first camping trip with my Uncle George, Aunt Marianne, and cousins, Kim, Wendy, and Joy. Marianne thought that it would be good for me to be around other kids my age.
We went to Silver Lake many summers and stayed at the State Park.
I fell in love with Jase Lawver, the minute I met him. He was the cutest boy I had ever seen. He had big brown eyes and brown hair. The older brother, Chad, was also very nice. Their younger brother, Adam, was 4 yrs old at the time. Skip Lawver was the jokester of the group and Jo Lawver was very nice, too.
Harold Klee was another of the jokesters of the group. His wife, Cheryl, was an elementary school teacher. They had two daughters, Heather and Dawn. Heather was 1 yr older than my cousin Kim and Dawn was about a year older than I am.
My Uncle George met Harold and Skip in Ypsilanti. Harold, George, and Skip were roommates. They have been friends ever since.
It was good to have all of these father figures around, as I no longer had that influence in my life.
Harold always used to joke around that they were going to have to initiate me into the group by dunking me in the lake.
Skip was famous for his school group where he would have all of us kids sit around in a circle and teach us funny things. One time, he held us upside down and made us recite the alphabet backwards. We would laugh so hard.
I had gone to New York City in July, so had a lot to say about the trip.
Many times, the camping trips would fall around my birthday in August, so they would celebrate my birthday with cake and presents.
Skip loved to talk about how he conceived each of the kids. We would all die laughing about how one of them was conceived in a cornfield.
One of our favorite past times was for the kids to play cards. Our favorite game was “Bullshit”. That was so much fun. I knew when Jase or Chad were lying, as you could see it in their faces.
Heather Klee was the oldest girl in the Klee family, who went to the University of Michigan and received her Master’s Degree from Pepperdine University.
Her sister, Dawn, who was a year older than I, enjoyed gymnastics. Later on, she did a lot of coaching of the gymnastic teams.
I remember when Jase was around 15, I taught him to drive in my first car. I was so excited every time I saw him.
One year, we stayed at the state park in Traverse City and went to Mackinac Island for the day. I was so excited when I could ride bikes with Wendy, Chad, and Jase on the island. I was in love with Jase for many years, until I grew up. I took many pictures and couldn’t wait to get them developed.
The tradition of going on the three family camping trips continued each year until shortly after I moved back from Chicago in 2001.
These families continue to be a part of my extended family, for which I truly blessed.
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