I was feeling much better on day 4 than in the evening of day 3. We went to my hometown of Milford and drove past the house I grew up in (from the age of 5). We also stopped by the bridge that crosses the Huron river right next to it. The boys and I got out of the car and I let them run around to explore the area for a little while. They thought it would be pretty neat to live near a river. We live near a wash, which is sometimes a river, but it’s not really the same.

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The current owners of the house I grew up in have fallen down on the job when it comes to maintenance. The house and yard look terrible. It’s obvious that the driveway hasn’t been touched since my parents had it paved before my high-school graduation party in 1989 (it was gravel before that). The paint on the garage doors is weathered (and by today’s standards, ugly) and the landscaping is completely overgrown. There is also an inexplicable amount of “junk” at the top of the driveway. You know what they say; you can never go home. Which is a saying that turns out to be true.

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We also drove by my elementary school, Johnson Elementary, and the church I attended while growing up, which happens to be where Jamey and I were married.

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Like our house, the church has also fallen into disrepair. If you look close enough, you’ll see that there’s a gas grill and some miscellaneous patio furniture on the stone porch and the slate roof is damaged. Apparently the place has been turned into some type of hypnosis center. It’s difficult to see because of the awful looking storm windows, but there is some amazing 100-year-old stained glass in the church.

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From there, we drove past Jamey’s house that she lived in as a teenager, in Commerce Township (formerly Union Lake), made a stop at the cemetery where my grandparents are buried, and then to our friends’ house in Oakland Township for dinner.

Day 4 was a nice day.