Just two short weeks ago, I did. And I recommend it for anyone considering the journey home. My other recommendation: Don’t wait until you’ve looked death in the face to do it.

That was my journey last summer. It’s also the reason I booked the trip the second I saw the post from one of my schoolmates about the 45th reunion of the Monroe (Michigan) High School class of 1979. When you see something like that — or any other reason to go home — book the trip.

I can’t put into words just how much I enjoyed my trip back home. But I’ll take this space to try.

While I returned to Michigan for the reunion, the most important thing I did was take time to visit my brother Kurt’s grave. As many of you know, my family lost Kurt in my hometown shortly after his identical twin brother, Karl, died here in Grand Junction.

While I take time to visit Karl’s grave in Fruita each May, I’d  never visited Kurt’s grave on any of my trips to my home state — which we used to do as a family twice a year, albeit it years ago.

Truth told, most of my more recent trips home involved landing at Detroit Metro, heading north to golf and then heading home the following Monday morning through the same airport.
My last trip home in May of 2023 was exactly that scenario just a month before my heart attack and surgery in June. I knew this time things would be different.

Different is the perfect word to describe my visit with Kurt, mainly because upon finally finding the part of the sprawling cemetery complex which belonged to Trinity Lutheran Church — the area is much like our Grand Junction complex off U.S. Highway 50 with several connected cemeteries —
I realized I had no idea where Kurt’s plot and headstone were. And only a vague memory of what they looked like.

After circling the cemetery twice in my rental car, I did what all lost souls  — well, my lost soul — would do in this situation. I parked the car and proceeded to walk around the headstones and talk to Kurt while looking through the maze of markers with dates ranging from the 1850s through the present — although I don’t recall seeing 2024 on a headstone.

It truly was the perfect parallel to Kurt and our brotherly relationship. Me walking around lost with no plan or clue what I was looking for at that moment of my life while having conversations with Kurt about all the things going in the wrong direction. Granted, I was usually lost or in some kind of trouble during those chats in our past. But in this case, I was just meandering and talking — something else Kurt’s monthly check-ins were always good for back in the day. When I didn’t find Kurt and was about to say I tried, Kurt found me and brought me peace and understanding. I sat down with him for a bit, and everything was OK.

Just as I was about to head to the car, a voice said, “Hey, little brother, look down and to the left.” And there was Kurt, like he always was, waiting for me to find him like he always did. It’s my best memory in ages. Sitting and talking with Kurt. Probably a good reminder to go visit Karl and then mom and dad. I know they’re watching as well. And, yes, shaking their collective heads.

If I had to guess, a few classmates might have as well. But I never saw anything like. I saw quite the opposite. Yes, I know it’s a reunion and you only get 10 minutes here or 20 minutes there with old friends. But in life today, sometimes 20 minutes here and there is all you get.

Most important — and I know I hadn’t been back in 30 years — was this: We’re all at a place where we have so much more in common than we ever had differences, whether in high school or the decades that subsequently passed.

What a testament to have faith in humanity. Seeing and hearing genuine interest to answers to the question, “How are you doing?”

While some of the answers were long and all too specific about ailments and aches and pains — like the first half hour or more of my lunch before golf — they were so good to hear in an atmosphere of care and concern.

I spent the rest of my time eating at favorite restaurants — kudos to Monroe’s Original Hot Dogs — driving familiar streets past landmarks and old homes and, best of all, a round of golf with my best buddy from high school. The trip was full of love as well.

Take the trip home. Let memories stir. Enjoy the people who were important in making you who you are. Better yet, take 10 or 20 minutes whenever you can with them.

It’s worth every second.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at (970) 424-5133
or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com.