But grandma didn’t stay put. She
loved the freedom of driving her car.
She started at 16, bought a convertible at 50 and a Cadillac at 70. She drove the Caddy until she was 90.
Grandma wanted to be cremated. Half of her ashes were buried beside her husband at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in Saginaw on July 18, 2009. Later that day, one-quarter were spread at her favorite place: Mackinac Island, where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet between the state’s two peninsulas. A bit of her ash spilled on the windy ferry ride to the island.
Milwaukee
Chicago
Cincinnati
Niagara Falls
Montreal
Upper Peninsula
Michigan
Saginaw
Eunice’s Universe
1913-2009
Detroit
The world Eunice saw in her 96 years extended only a few hundred miles from where she was born and died in Saginaw, Michigan.
She traveled no further westward than Wisconsin or eastward than Niagara Falls and Montreal. Her northern frontier was Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Cincinnati was her southern border.
Eunice often encouraged her grandson to “see the world” and get out of Saginaw, which she called a “one-horse town.” But she wouldn’t get on a plane and see the world for herself.
So I told her I’d spread her ashes in the interesting
places I traveled to. She liked that idea.
She enjoyed Michigan’s great lakes, which look like oceans. She talked about going to Hawaii and Florida in her retirement but widowhood and a reluctance to fly kept her close to home.
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