I choose

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

No one said it better than ole Charles Dickens.

I went to Detroit on Thursday evening to visit the infamous Amy Brown. We had a wonderful time together as always. We walked, we talked, we cooked, we ate, we shopped, we laughed, we had "quiet time" (reading/nap time), we processed.

We went to Eastern Market. It is the most awesome market in the entire world. No question. Look at this one table of fresh produce. Much of it is from Michigan and all of it is fresh and cheap!

Look at these flowers! I mean, shut up! Glorious.

The market is packed with people and Amy gets most of her groceries for the week here and at a lovely market called Honey Bee. Honey Bee has the best salsa in the entire world. I feel the need to be Detroit's advocate. Detroit gets a bad rap in the media and it has had its struggles. But, let me tell you something. There is a neat spirit in Detroit. Lots of culture, lots of flavor, lots to do, lots of life. And lots of fresh fruit and salsa. And, Detroit has Amy Brown. Aren't we all jealous?

I learned something this weekend. When Amy recommends something in her polite, non threatening way, I should probably follow along. See, Amy plans ahead. I, on the other hand, sometimes have trouble thinking beyond that moment.

Amy: Do you want to pack a snack?

Alison: No thanks. (I've just eaten so I'm full and can't imagine ever being hungry again. Three hours later, I'm hungry and grumpy. So much so that Amy will probably force me to eat her granola bar in order to help my attitude which is undoubtedly suffering from low blood sugar.)

Amy: Do you want to take some water?

Alison: No thanks. (I've just drunk a glass of tea so I'm more worried about bathroom breaks than extra water. However, thirty minutes later I'm parched.)

So, I'm practicing for the future.

Amy: Do you want...

Alison: Yes, absolutely. Whatever, you recommend.

Next on the agenda, Sugarland concert! Which started with a little tailgating in the parking lot. The lovely lady on the left is Marissa, Amy's coworker. The lovely lady on the right is Gwen, Marissa's best friend.

We then proceeded in to the lawn seating where we had a lovely picnic dinner and plenty of room to shake it during the concert.

So, I want to be Jennifer Nettles. Or Beyonce. One of the two. Man, can Jennifer sing! It was the best concert ever.

There were, of course, signs scrolling various advertisements. The following combo of advertisements were our favorite. The top screen says 'Jack Daniels' and the bottom screen says 'Helping people live healthier lives.' Love that. Not even sure what the bottom screen was advertising. Don't really care actually!

Unfortunately, I came home one day early from Detroit. My youngest nephew, Connor, is in Children's Hospital. There is something wrong in his brain, probably a tumor or a vascular malformation.

So I hate baby hospital gowns. Something about seeing him in that little gown made me furious. I hated that little gown. It's like there should be a universal rule that babies and children don't get sick. I wanted to rip that gown off of him, scoop him up, and take him away. Connor is 17 months and starting to talk a little bit. He would say "uh-oh" when the IV machine would beep and he kept telling the nurse "bye-bye" whenever she came in the room knowing that she was going to poke or prod or generally cause discomfort. So, if you will, lift up prayers for this little guy and this family and the nurses and doctors. Life never said nuthin' about being fair. It just goes in a big circle of pain and joy, sorrow and peace. Today, I choose all of it. I choose life.