Unsuspecting Souls

Do you remember this photo from early Spring?
This is a statue of Thomas A. Edison depicted as a boy, when he worked the railway between Port Huron and Mount Clemens, Michigan. It stands in front of a small museum at the border to Canada, almost directly under the Blue Water Bridges.

I've loved this statue since I first moved to Port Huron back in 1991. The setting couldn't be better. The craftsmanship is amazing. Crafted out of bronze, you can see every detail so vividly upon close inspection. The artist is a world renowned sculptor who has works of art in most major cities including Philadelphia,  Chicago, New York, Dallas, London and the list goes on and on. She's known for her sculptures but loves to craft from anything you can imagine. She lives here locally and quite modestly for the most part. Her husband is well known in the community as well and they both offer much back to the city that they call home.

I got a call from her yesterday. Her nephew is in town, taking a break from his studies at medical school and has invited a friend to stop in for the week. her nephew is Khristian and his girlfriend is Christine. Their friends that they invited are Christopher and Christina. It's very handy that you can say Chris, and they all answer (Or confusing). They awoke yesterday and discussed the arrival of their friends as they had breakfast on the veranda of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. They wanted to impress their friends that had no idea of the wealth that they have. The friends were lured here saying that they had a small guest house they could stay in. Well, she called me wanting to know if I'd pick them up in the limo from the airport. Of course I said yes. Khris and Chris rode the 75 miles to Detroit Metro Airport with me, excited to surprise their friends. As I approached, you should have seen their eyes. Christopher is an X-Navy Seal, working his way through medical school and couldn't believe when his friend offered to fly him and his girlfriend to Michigan for summer break. As he's getting into the limo he says "I feel like I've won the lottery!" to which Khris replied, "You haven't seen anything yet".

During the long drive back, the two veterans dropped clues to what the newbies were in store for but never really told them the whole of it. So as we exited the freeway, the last exit before Canada, I offered to give them the 10 penny tour of town. Being from Texas, they were excited to see just how close we are to Canada. As we drove through downtown, I pointed out some key things and Khris pointed out his Aunt's studio and other things that his Uncle owns. Then I pulled the limo into the park that overlooks the Blue Water Bridges and the river that separates the US from Canada. I pointed out the lightship museum and there happened to be a freighter passing by as we drove through the park. We stopped at the statue of Thomas Edison and admired his Aunt's work before moving on to one of the many beautiful light houses that dot our shore where Lake Huron narrows into the St.Clair River.

Then we headed toward their accommodations for the week. As we drove along the riverfront, the newbies were admiring all the beautiful homes. They pointed to one of my friends homes and said "Wow! Look at that! This place is amazing!" Then I slowed the car before turning into their camp for the week and they both erupted into "Are you kidding me?! This is where we're staying?!"

The reply was of course, "NO, you are staying in the 1000sq ft artist studio/guesthouse, filled with antiques and a wonderful 1936 claw foot tub and there's an outdoor shower at the boathouse if you prefer that." I carried their bags through the main house and down the hill to the guesthouse as the new guest cried tears of joy. The sculptor walking with me explaining to me, "All the money in the world is nothing unless you can share it with the unsuspecting from time to time."

Some day, this young man and his girlfriend will be doctors and save peoples lives. Some day they will make a good living and have nice things. And some day, they are going to remember this week and pass it on to another unsuspecting soul. But today, they visited the Brighter Side.