Today's Version

            “Dana, Portia, and I went to Oberlin College,” Mom remarked about her siblings, “but Humphrey wanted no part of that.  He went to Michigan Tech.”

            “Oh, you mean Michigan State, don’t you?” I offered, remembering well the family history.

            “No.  It was Michigan Tech there in the Upper Peninsula in Houghton.”  Mom’s tone of voice brooked no opposition.  “He went there while the bridge was being built.  I remember riding the ferry was neat, but driving across the bridge was wonderful!”

            There was nothing left for me to say.  Humphrey died in a plane crash when he was nineteen, long before the five-mile-long bridge to the Upper Peninsula was constructed.  My brother John went to Michigan Tech in the late seventies and early eighties, long after the bridge was built.  As far as I know, Mom never rode the ferry across.

            Gradually, I am learning to keep my mouth shut and let Mom share her memories in today’s version.  Tomorrow’s will probably be different.