A Midlander Returns

It's been 42 years, give or take a week, since that unhappy day I departed Midland, Michigan, to join my family already in California. I left behind a special someone, all my friends, and a world I in which I fit and belonged. And a kind of people that in all my travels around the country and the globe I've only glimpsed on my rare visits to the Midwest.

But my travels never took me to Michigan, much less Midland.

Oh, I've thought back on it a lot over the years. And a long time ago I learned that certain flights between the East and West Coast even took me over, or near Midland. Once, in the days when I was still a window-seat traveler, I not only saw it from the air but I was even able to take pictures. This is Midland from the air (the whitish spot).

But all that's about to change. In just under two months I plan to return for a visit. Situations dictate that it will be a short visit but I will get to visit many old and familiar places, lament others that are gone, and see some of the new.