Adjustments

No one in our family is very good with change.  This is being written by the girl who broke into tears just before beginning middle school and high school, along with numerous other events.  Needless to say, moving from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to the suburbs of Detroit was a big change.  We immediately wanted to run away from the quick-paced, drive fast (and far), no more Superstore, big-city atmosphere.  Come on, it takes a little while to get used to the turn-right-to-go-left thing called the "Michigan left."  Luke and I (Audrey is a tough native Detroiter) had the easy adjustments, while Clayton was not only in a different country and city, but in a new medical system with different measurements, abbreviations, lingo, and types of cases (Ex.: he saw more gunshots here in one day than in 4 years in Canada).  He dove in like a pro, but he seemed to have lost what exactly it was about Medicine that attracted him in the first place.  Time passed.  Our beautiful little Audrey was born, overcoming initial medical problems and leaving us with an overwhelming feeling that we have a lot to be thankful for.  We made friends.  We sampled local restaurants, played at nearby parks, and dreamed of the day when we would move far, far away from Detroit.  Around our year anniversary of moving here (June), we started to realize that a lot had changed since the year before.  Almost unbelievably, Clayton's work schedule did improve.  He was actually starting to like being a doctor!  Our amazingly beautiful lake-front park opened for the season, complete with beach, pool, splashpark, etc.  Loving and generous families visited and tried not to comment on the tiny bathroom, and they paid for us to visit them.  As we walked down the streets near our house, we started to really appreciate Grosse Pointe for what it is:  a wonderful place to raise a family.  Aside from being so close to Detroit city limits, Grosse Pointe is almost like a world apart--a safe, tight-knit community where you bump into friends every time you go into the grocery store.  That being said, you had better be looking your best at the grocery store.  Wikipedia.com says of the area, "Grosse Pointe has been frequently referenced in television, film, and literature, often as an icon of wealth and luxury.  Grosse Pointe is known for a very preppy lifestyle, including dress, auto, and homes.  The classic 'preppy/old money' style is extremely popular in the area."  Popular culture might explain things a little bit more:  Jeffrey Eugenides's popular novels The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex were both set here, as was the film Grosse Pointe Blank.  The pilot Maggie McConnell from Northern Exposure was from Grosse Pointe, along with preppy Brad from Nickelodeon's Hey Dude (one of my favorite childhood t.v. shows).  If you aren't familiar with any of those, don't worry.  You can just imagine us sticking out like a sore thumb with our flower-beds filled with weeds, lawn chairs on the front porch, lack of private school uniforms in our children's closets, and no membership to the yacht club.  However, we are really starting to feel a growing fondness for our temporary home.  Our plans and dreams still include moving far away, but we plan to enjoy ourselves while we're here, and I'm sure we'll miss it a lot when we leave.