Sault Sainte Marie - Wendys Words

Anyone that knows my 21-year-old son Mark knows that he has a diagnosis of classic autism. My husband Pete and I couldn’t figure out where Mark got the idea that Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan was where he wants to live his adult life. The farthest east we had even been in the U.P. as a family was Houghton, and Mark was only four at that time. Yet for a couple of years now Mark has run with this idea of living in the city by looking up things about it online- he even picked out where he wants to live in Sault Sainte Marie (I believe he found it on Google Earth). Pete and I decided that the family needed to take a trip to the City so Mark could see it for himself. Early Monday morning, we packed up to make the 272 miles from Gillett to Sault Sainte Marie.

While there, we made the trek to the famous Soo Locks. While the six of us could not afford to go on one of the boat tours (it would have been well over $100.00 to do so), we were fortunate enough to see a ship coming in known as the American Integrity. The American Integrity is 304.8 meters long and 32 meters wide. The ship took almost an hour to make its way through.  It was fascinating to see the locks working to get the ship where it needed to go. There was a nice view from the locks of the bridge to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, and it was quite evident that COVID was still keeping people from crossing the international border.  The vehicles crossing the bridge were sparse in number, and the ones that did were mostly semi-trucks.

After visiting the Soo Locks, we found the house where Mark says he wants to live, and found that it is on a golf course near the locks.  There is even a net in the back yard to protect the property from wayward golf balls. I doubt Mark understands what he would have to do to afford such a house, but even he is entitled to dreams and goals. I don’t know if he will be able to make that dream a reality, but I won’t lie-the thought of Mark being 270 miles from me was a little unnerving.

Finding joy in the simple things is one of the best feelings in the world, and I felt that joy at our evening meal.  The boys were awesome all day-dealing with the Eastern Time Zone, behaving wonderfully in new locations, and being patient about everything.  We found a Mexican restaurant that had a patio table that could seat all six of us. As I watched my family enjoying their meal, the great weather and the great atmosphere, I felt so content. It was one of those moments that I wanted to hold onto forever.  

Mark was not disappointed with his time there, and is already talking about how we will stop there in 2021.   If everything works out, we probably will go through there on a trip next year, but for now, I will just look back on our 2020 trip and smile.   It was a short trip, but that’s okay.  The trip was made, and family memories were made, and that was the most important thing.