2017 Woodward Dream Cruise – SE Michigan Gem

Motor City [Mad(e Wo)man] Baby!!!!

Stella's Place

This weekend is one of the premier events of the year in Southeast Michigan – the 23rd annual Woodward Dream Cruise, billed as the world’s largest classic car event.  It not a classic car show in the usual sense – it’s a street fair. More than one million people and  up to 40,000 classic cars are expected to visit Woodward Avenue, between Pontiac, MI and Ferndale, MI.  It’s big, it’s fun, and it’s FREE!

The Dream Cruise adds at least $237 million to the regional economy according to the Metro Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau. At least a quarter of those attending are from outside SE Michigan.

Major events began earlier than ever this year, with Dodge and Fiat Chrysler’s day of amateur drag racing and other events at M1 Concourse in Pontiac on Aug. 12.

A new sponsorship from Ford will bring other new events on Dream Cruise day…

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Stella’s Place Comments & Tom Thompson’s Obituary

I just wanted to copy/paste some material that I posted at another blog in case any of you might be interested in some of these things…& it saves me writing it up again!

Blessings to All,

Valerie

From the below site (well worth the visit & extended stay within & about!):

General Discussion, Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Here’s my stuff, obviously:

valeriecurren says:

July 12, 2017 at 2:39 am

Hi, I’m pretty new around here but I wanted to share a “good report” about my son. Some of you have visited his new blog, JosiahsFreakShow.wordpress.com at the urging of Menagerie at the Conservative Tree House.

We’ve had a busy couple of days (following an extended 4th of July stay in Northern Michigan) seeing a surgical pre-op clinic Monday & “today” (actually Tuesday, but it never “feels” like it’s a new day until I actually/eventually sleep!) at the Liver Transplant Clinic AND the Brain Tumor Clinic. That’s a lot to process, even for us.

Anyway, the upshot is that there is no apparent (re)growth of his Brain Tumor since it’s removal back in 2010…and for the first time he will be allowed to go for FOUR Years before another Brain MRI & return to the Pituitary Clinic!

He is also almost exactly 4 years post-Liver Transplant now & looks like he may be able to begin the weaning off of anti-rejection meds following a (relatively minor, though 18th overall) surgery planned for later this month! This is almost a year sooner than they’d previously stated protocols would allow such attempted medication weaning–perhaps a sign of how well he’s doing…

These are all huge praise reports from our standpoint…& my son is quite relieved since he had been “gearing up with the Lord” to prepare for the possibility of more “bad news” & medical challenges, especially in the Neurosurgery arena. We are so thankful for good reports.

I wrote up many details about these visits, & previously about many medical & special education challenges for/about Josiah, at this blog, if anyone is interested in that type of material…

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/JournalingForTheJazzman

There are also details about our ongoing & historical journey, especially as relates to managing Josiah’s needs, at my wordpress blog here

SpecialConnections.wordpress.com

Some people have been blessed and encouraged by our experiences & faith-affirming approaches to the complex & difficult medical & advocacy battles we’ve faced…so all those links are by way of an FYI, if they might be beneficial, inspiring, or encouraging to others.

God Bless You ALL…& God Bless America (& restore Her to founding principles & values!)

(I wanted to post a photo of Josiah here, but don’t know how to do that…so here is a link to the photo I’d wanted to share, fyi)
http://www.carepages.com/carepages/JournalingForTheJazzman/photos/5672780

Blessings,
Valerie Curren

• valeriecurren says:

  July 12, 2017 at 2:53 am

  PS I really only began the wordpress blog as a form of an outlet to cope with the massive abuse/betrayal of the special education system (not that I in any way believe in the Nanny State)…in attempting to assert, protect, and redress issues related to my special needs son’s “rights” “guaranteed & protected” in Special Education law! I was/am an isolated parent dealing with extremely complex issues over many years who took advocacy “training” from WrightsLaw.com to heart & attempted to put it into practice in defense of my son…anyway some perspective on that whole debacle can be gained at this early blog posting…& the inspirational article cited is also well worth the read for anyone who struggles in these arenas…

  https://specialconnections.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/commenting-on-only-the-rich-will-have-rights-article/

  Thanks for providing a place where we can share things on our minds & hearts!

 

Eventually I’d like to take a page out of Stella’s “book” & perhaps have some guest posts and post even more things of wider ranging interest…but one step at a time…

If you’ve stopped by here for any reason, or even just by accident, thanks for taking the time to read a bit about our situation, to pray for our needs, to share an encouraging word, or even just a passing kindly thought.  We hope you are doing well, but if you struggle (as we all do from time to time) we would be happy to pray with/for you and encourage you as best we can.

In Christ,

Valerie

PS here’s that picture that I’d wanted to post at Stella’s site, and the associated comments, from the above noted link…

Josiah undergoing pre-op procedures before the Brain Tumor Surgery Summer 2010

Posted Jul 14, 2012 8:07pm

by Julie Thompson

JOSIAH . . . the bravest young man we know. We love you and are keeping you in our prayers.
Cousins Tom and Julie

 

As an aside, this above comment on Josiah’s picture is especially meaningful to me since Tom has recently died & Julie has been in a nursing home for a number of years & no longer actively follows along with Josiah’s needs…& I really miss her wonderful input & encouragement…

Here is cousin Tom’s Obituary…he is officially Hugh Orr Thompson, II but has always been known as “Tom” within the family to distinguish between himself, his father, his son, and most recently his grandson–Hugh IV…

Obituaries & Words of Condolence

Thompson, Hugh, Jr. Obituary
03/19/2017

Hugh Orr Thompson, Jr., of Troy, Michigan and Gaylord, Michigan, passed away Sunday, March 19, 2017. He was 76.

Hugh Thompson was born to Dr. Hugh and Bernice Thompson on November 16, 1940. At the age of 22 he married Julianne Weiskotten and the two spent 53 years together at the time of his passing.

Hugh was active in the Boy Scouts with his children and was also a proud member of the Shriners. In his spare time, he liked snowmobiling, boating, flying, fishing, and even water-skiing in his youth.

Hugh is survived by his wife, Julianne; children Hugh Thompson III (and his wife, Hanh) and Bill Thompson (and his wife, Carrie); and grandchildren Halle Thompson, and Hugh Thompson IV. He was preceded in death by his parents Dr. Hugh and Bernice Thompson, and sister Karen.

There will be two funeral services. The first will be held on Friday, April 7th at the Church of the Nazarene in Troy, Michigan at 2pm with visitation beginning at 1pm. The second will be held on Saturday, April 8th at Nelson Funeral Home in Gaylord, Michigan at 3pm with visitation beginning at 2pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Alzheimer’s Association, or the Humane Society.

 

Condolence Messages

From: Don Walworth Northport, MI Contact	31-Mar-17
You will be missed my friend! We spent many a summer together on Otsego Lake together. May peace be with you
From: Bill and Elaine Stoddard DEARBORN, MI Contact	29-Mar-17
Tom has been not only a cousin but best friend to Bill since early childhood. His wife, Julianne is likewise a most prescious friend and cousin. We pray for God’s comfort to all who will miss the earthly presence of this honorable man of good character and integrity. He is much loved, by many.

http://nelsonsfuneralhome.com/obituary-view.cfm?obituaries_id=935

The condolence messages from Don Walworth & my dad Bill Stoddard are from the surviving “Bunns” of “The Three Bunns”…a nickname this trio of mischievous young men gave themselves during all of the many high-jinx of their youth (I do not know the meaning, origin, or purpose of that name).  There are many wonderful stories about their Summers at Otsego Lake that often get revisited with the newer generations as the years go by…& I love to instigate the telling of such tales!

One bit of a family history tidbit, Tom & Julie met at my parents’ wedding and married about a year later.  My dad recently said that Julie told him that she fell in love with Tom at first sight & knew she would marry him even when she first met him.  Julie’s mother and my dad’s mother were very close friends, I believe they were either school teachers or involved in church activities with each other.  They always wanted their husbands to meet, but neither of the men were interested, being too far apart in interests & lifestyle.  Tom Weiskotten, Julie’s dad, was some type of minister (I believe) & my Grandpa, E. M. (Elzine Munger aka El, Al, or Lefty) Stoddard was a self-made outdoorsman who ran his own Sunoco gas station in Detroit–Stoddard’s Superior Service!  Anyway the wives eventually got their husbands to meet & the guys became fast friends.  Tom W. died while his daughter was quite young so when it was time for her to get married it was my Grandpa Stoddard who walked her down the aisle to give her away to his nephew!  We actually called Julie’s mom Aunt Julia because she was family (by love) even before she was family by marriage!

Nelson’s Funeral Home in Gaylord, MI has handled many of the deaths in our extended family over the years, including Tom’s parents, Hugh & Bernice Thompson, his sister, Karen Hansen, my grandparents, Elzine & Vivian (Bernice’s sister) Stoddard, my great-grandparents, Rowland & Florabelle Thompson (Bernice, Vivian, & Thurman’s parents), and my great uncle & his wife, Thurman & Mary Thompson.

In fact at Uncle Thurman’s funeral many years ago Josiah was able to meet some of Karen’s grandkids that were also autistic.  Josiah used to point out Nelson’s for many years whenever we went to Gaylord & remark about Thurman’s funeral that had been there, one of the early indicators of some of his unusual memory & location skills (he’d met Thurman maybe once briefly but recalled events for many years without promptings or reminders, even when passing Nelson’s less than once in a year–it wouldn’t surprise me if he still could spell out the Thurman/Nelsons details on a subsequent Gaylord trip–such is part of the miracle & mystery of autism, at least Josiah style!)

bing.com image for Pine Beach, Otsego Lake, Gaylord, MI

The above picture is pretty close to the sunset view from Tom & Julie’s cottage on Pine Beach, just around the Pointe from my parents’ Cottage on Otsego Lake…

So I need to actually get some sleep & may be getting visually “slap happy” but I couldn’t resist copy/pasting a couple of autism super power images that likely could fit better in other posts I’ve done, but I want to be able to find them again so they are finding a “temporary” home here now!  Blessings, Valerie

I see my brother Curtis doing Chris Farley-esque “air quotes” based on my writing style & am basically cracking my own self up!

the images in this post were found using the Bing.com search engine…

Family History Center Fun

While on a recent trip Up North, in Gaylord, Michigan I was privileged to get some Genealogy Time in at the local Family History Center and got to play around with a fun website (see below).  You can find a “local” Family History Center here and get free & friendly help with your own genealogical “games”:

https://familysearch.org/locations/centerlocator

During my Gaylord FHC endeavor the lovely lady currently running this FHC introduced me to a very fun little free tool, that anyone can actually access.  This is actually RelativeFinder.org and is hosted by BYU (Brigham Young University), I believe.  Although this tool has been available for at least a year (see the below article for details) this is the first I’d ever heard of it…and it was actually quite fun to play with.

FamilySearch.org is a great Genealogical Website, it offers many free genealogy services and gives you the ability to create a family tree online, and to access many available records and link them to your family tree.  If you have a family tree at FamilySearch.org then you can sign in to the RelativeFinder tool using your FamilySearch log-in info & find relatives via your existing tree.  If you don’t have a family tree (or you want to search for relatives for a specific person in your tree) you can go to family trees in family search and see if you can locate a known ancestor of yours in someone else’s tree.  If you find the correct person you can copy their unique identifying number & paste it into the “masquerade” function of RelativeFinder here:

https://relativefinder.org/#/masquerade

I honestly don’t know if you can use RelativeFinder.org without a FamilySearch login, but you can “join” FamilySearch for free and then see what happens.  The masquerade link above explains where the identifying number can be found in a FamilySearch family tree…so hopefully anyone can have fun with this with just a bit of effort.  Obviously the further back in time you can take your personal family tree the greater the likelihood of finding “cousin” matches with this fun website…

I plan to use some of the RelativeFinder results to pique the interest of other family members who are less enthusiastic about Genealogy than I am.  Since there are a number of intriguing categories available you are likely to find some sub-set of (available) humanity to pique your own interest…and you never know, you just might get bitten by that pesky genealogy bug & join this legion of enthusiastic “infectees”…but be warned, once bitten there is no proven or lasting cure!

 

https://familysearch.org/blog/en/relative-finder-big-family-cousins/

Well I’m going to have to get back to this posting with an Edit after I can get to a computer with less pop-up blocking so that I can post a couple of examples to potentially whet your appetite…for instance, my husband is a First Cousin to William Shakespeare, though many generations removed!

Happy Hunting!

PS all images are from various Bing.com image searches