Happy Days in Lansing, MI

Moving to Lansing, MI felt like returning to a known environment for Gary and me. It took a while for our defenses to lower, but after several years we felt a part of the community. The nine years we spent with Grace United Methodist Church and living in Lansing were some of the best of our lives.

Gary, Chris and I

The church was located a few minutes from downtown, on Mount Hope Road near Cedar/MLK. The parsonage driveway was accessed by Mount Hope Road but the house faced Cambridge Road. It was a lovely neighborhood a few minutes from the Grand River, Francis Park with its rose garden, and the Governor's mansion. Across Mount Hope was the elementary school our son would attend.

The parsonage was well maintained. During our time at Grace many improvements were made to the house, including a new kitchen and two new bathrooms, custom made drapes, and new windows.

When the outgoing pastor's wife told me her dog had been hit by a car on Mt. Hope, I asked the church to install fencing between the house and garage to provide a safe area to let our dog out. The Trustees were obliging!

The church had been built in the 1960s as a new church start. The congregation felt like a big family.

The congregation was very social and church activities kept us busy over the years--starting with a welcome party.

Chris and I at the welcome party

The Vacation Bible School (VBS) was always a well planned, spectacular event. That first summer, VBS ended with a riverboat cruise on the Grand River!

Gary, Chris and I on the Princess Queen for VBS

The Princess Queen paddleboat moored at the Grand River 

I quickly found work at a Catholic school as a part-time secretary focusing on desktop publishing and other computer generated administrative tasks.

At the end of the school year I left for full-time work at the Lansing Art Gallery as the membership secretary. Before a year had passed, I was hired by Jostens, the class and championship ring company, for a newly created position as the state office manager. I was the hub for the management and sales team and their customers. Working from a home office, I provided sales support to the salespeople, customer service to the colleges, created and sent out promotional supplies, and sometimes even attended sales events or sold rings over the phone. The nine month a year job was perfect! Within two years I had doubled my salary.

Church members participated in the denomination's Family Camp held at the United Methodist church camp in Pentwater, MI. It became an annual family vacation. There was also an annual church family camp at Lakeview UM Camp.

Kili and Chris at the Pentwater family camp

We were less than an hour from Gary's parents and just over an hour from my dad and brother. We could make day trips. One of our favorite visits was to Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad.

Dad at Crossroads Village 

Chris, Gary and Laura and Herman Bekofske
at Crossroads Village. (I made Chris's jacket)

We continued to take family vacations around Michigan. When the pop-up camper nearly burned down from an electric short we rented cabins around the state, including Ludington, Lake Louise, Cheboygan, and Tawas. The church's generous Christmas gift made the cost of the cabins possible. Gary and Chris also took father-son camping trips in the U.P. every year.

Mackinaw Bridge Sunset 

at Pictured Rocks

Lake Louise, Dad and Chris on rowboat

Chris and Kili at Tawas, MI

Kili after wading at Tawas

Whitefish Point Lighthouse

We took Chris to Washington, D.C.

Chris and Gary at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.

Chris spent many weekends with my dad and brother at the cabin on Lake St. Helen. Chris loved to snowmobile.

Snowmobiling 

Kili at Lake St. Helen

Chris and I often visited Dad. He took us to the State Fair, the Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, the Detroit Zoo, Belle Isle, the Auburn Hills Chyrsler Museum, and the Cranbrook Museum.

The iconic oven at the old Michigan State Fair Grounds was destroyed in a fire

The Wolverine at the Detroit Zoo posed for us!

1660s Windmill at Greenfield Village

The parsonage had four bedrooms and two full baths so it was easy to accommodate Dad and Tom for Christmas at our house. The Bekofskes usually came on Sundays for worship, including Easter Sunday.

Dad with a photo memory quilt I made

These years were a time of great growth in my life as a quilter. I joined the Capital City Quilt Guild. The large guild hosted nationally known quilters to speak and run workshops. For a while I was in the American Quilt Study Group and also a group supporting the Michigan State University Museum's quilt programs. The group met in our church and created a quilt to auction to raise funds.

I gave a presentation to the quilt guild on Handkerchief Quilts, and was told I had done a professional job! A proud moment for me! I entered a quilt into the World Quilt and Textile Show. It was a Barbie quilt made for an ugly fabric quilt challenge. One of the show organizers told me how they loved my quilt and got such a kick when they unpacked it. I scanned Barbie, printed the image on fabric, and dressed Barbie in the 'ugly' fabrics. I embellished the quilt with real Barbie clothes and accessories.

My Barbie Quilt

I made When Dreams Come True based on NASA photographs of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

I got a quilt frame for my birthday.

Kili keeping me company while I quilt 

I donated quilts to fundraisers including Habitat for Humanity auctions. When a staff member left I made a signature quilt signed by the congregation.

Signature quilt presentation.

When a staff member suffered losses I made her a quilt.

And when a young man tragically died I made this quilt commemorating his work with Habitat for Humanity.

My brother bought a cabin outside of West Branch, MI. We had two family cabins for our use whenever we could get away.

Tom's cabin outside of West Branch, MI

We enjoyed going to the area nature centers. Starting the summer we moved, Chris attended the Woldumar Nature Center day camp. When we was too old to be a camper, he volunteered as a counselor in training. He worked all day, all summer!

The Fenner Nature Center was a lovely place to visit as well, plus they had the annual apple butter festival, making the apple butter in a large copper kettle over an open fire!

Fenner Nature Center, Lansing, MI

Chris and Gary at Fenner Nature Center, Lansing MI

We took family walks with Kili around the neighborhood. We often stopped to talk to neighbors.

Walking Kili around the 'hood

Kili spent her time on the window seat. She watched the world, and slept there too! People asked if that was a fox in the window!

Kili in the picture window

We saw Beauty and the Beast at the Wharton Center and plays at Lansing Community College. We visited museums in Grand Rapids, the Kalamazoo Air Museum, and zoos in Lansing and Battle Creek.

We were active as a family in many church activities, including buying and wrapping Christmas presents for donation, delivering Thanksgiving meals, walking (with Kili) in CROP Walk, and fundraisers for Habitat for Humanity. Chris was in the church basketball team for several years, attended Sunday School, participated in plays and in Youth Group.

Youth Musical. Chris in the middle.

Newspaper article on CROP Walk at the church

I sang in the choir for several years, played piano for the children's choir, and for two years taught the Youth Sunday School Class. I loved teaching and had a great time. The kids seemed to enjoy me as a teacher, too.

Gary and I at a church dinner

One day a man came to church and joined our Sunday School class. At the end of class he asked several questions about the church's stance on sensitive social issues, especially reguarding human sexuality. That year the church held an eight session discussion on the issue, with many points of view presented. Although the majority of members were in consensus, they had agreed to disagree and continued to care and work with each other in love. When the man's question was met with silence, I spoke up. God gave me the words. I explained the offical UMC Social Creed, and that there was no universal consensus, but that in the Wesleyan manner, we supported the right to "think and let think."

The man next asked to see the pastor. After a discussion, he told Gary that he was coming back to denounce the church as followers of Satan. Several members moved quickly to contact the police. It turned out that the man was known to the police, and said that he was "off his meds." The Washington D.C. police contacted the church. They also knew about this man after targeting Senator Debbie Stabenow. Grace is her home church, and that made it a target for this man. We were afraid of what was going to happen the following week.

As worship began the next Sunday, police were on the scene. They prevented the man from entering the church, keeping him across the street as he ranted and raved. When church was over, people going to their cars or the Youth Building stood aghast at the vehemence coming from the man across the street. A WWII veteran who had given his life to God under siege at the Battle of Anzio was very upset that his church was being attacked. His wife restrained him from crossing the street! Youth were as upset as their grandparents. The experience brought the church together, all generations, united in their belief in their community and purpose.

Kili

There is another side to the story of these years: How the move impacted our son, including the challenge of a new social environment; how the school environment changed after Columbine; and finally our decision to opt for home schooling.

Me