Parents Travel

Linda's Thoughts from Duluth

My niece married in August on a Saturday and she and her husband left right away on Monday for Delphi, Indiana, where he was working. He graduated from Penn State and became employed as a Mechanical Engineer in a small town in Indiana, 12 hours away from their home. As you can imagine, this move was hard not only for Hope and Matt, but most especially for my sister and her husband. Matt hopes to be able to find a job closer to home eventually, but in the meantime, he must pay his dues and know that in the small towns of southeastern PA, there are not many mechanical engineering jobs for a recent college graduate.

Their move reminds me so much of my move to Duluth 36 years ago. Bob and I married on a Saturday and left home for Minnesota on Monday also. Hope is very family orientated, as I was. She misses her parents and her family very much, I know how she feels. I have been thinking a lot of her since August. There is one thing she has going for her, that I didn’t - her husband is also away from home and missing everyone. My husband WAS in his hometown by his family. I know that Matt relates so much more to Hope’s loneliness for her family, than my husband did.

This past weekend Hope’s parents and brother (my sister), traveled 12 hours to visit Hope and Matt. Julie told me that they drove straight through, anxious to get there. She said it was so good to see them and they had a wonderful visit. I know, as parents, how much better they now feel, seeing exactly where they live, the town, the house they are in, etc.

This reminded me of the first time my parents visited us. Remember, I was raised on a farm, with cows to milk, chickens to feed. They told me when I married and left home not to expect to see them in Minnesota. My parents never went anywhere overnight in all my growing up years. We never went on vacation, as so many of my friend’s families did. I used to get upset that we could never go to “the shore” where everyone would talk about, the first couple days back to school each Sept. The “shore” referred to the shores of Atlantic City (before the casinos), Rehoboth Beach or Ocean City. These beaches were within a 3 – 4 hour drive of Southeast PA. In the 50’s and 60’s, it was “the place” to vacation. Mom and Dad always used the reason “we can’t leave the animals”. When I was older, I realized that the reason was also that they didn’t have money to travel or vacation. That would be a luxury not afforded to farmers.

As I told you, that first winter here I was so very homesick. I think if I had been a days drive from home, I would have driven there myself….but two days…24 hours…I just couldn’t. Of course, you know that I begged, pleaded and cajoled every time I talked or wrote to them that they just “HAD” to come to Duluth, but no commitments from them. The two brothers close to me in age, were old enough, that they could leave the farm work to them, so I kept reminding them of that.

In late June, 4 of my aunts and uncles took a trip west together. On their way home, they made a stop in Duluth to visit us. I was never so happy to see anyone in my life! I will never forget the anticipation of their arrival and the happiness I felt when they got out of their car! They were only here for a few days, I can’t remember if it was 2 or three, but I was so thrilled to cook for them and especially to show them around the city I now lived in. We went on the Vista Queen cruise. It was not until then, that I understood what the port meant and what went through here. I saw the grain elevators and the iron ore docks for the first time. I saw the city on the hill from the water. Awesome! I saw the canal for only the second time, and I showed them the new Marine Museum, which was pretty new then. It was my first time at the museum. Seeing the museum also helped me to understand about the port activities. The canal area looked completely different then, than now. These were the days before the city decided that “tourism” might be a good thing. Other than the canal and the aerial bridge, the museum was the only thing worth seeing in that are. It was a district of run down buildings, old warehouses, and various small businesses. The new marine museum building STOOD out like a STAR in that rundown area!

Before they went on their way out of town, I made Uncle Dick promise to me that he would talk to my parents about coming out. I told him to map out the trip for my Dad, since he never traveled. I told them to all talk to them and convince them that they just “had to come out”. Uncle Dick, Aunt Sylvia, Uncle Bob and Aunt Sara (my Dad’s sisters), were the first then, to visit us in Duluth.

Tomorrow I will let you know about my parents’ first visit. Yes, they did finally make a trip out to see us. It would be the first of many trips to Duluth for them.