A Nostalgic Detour

When we sat down and started to plan this trip we knew we wanted to go to Chicago and then the Badlands, but also knew we wanted to break up the long drive between those two places.  I saw this as an opportunity for a detour to the tiny town in South Dakota where my maternal grandfather grew up. Ipswich is about 20 miles west of Aberdeen and its current population is 947 people.  Two of those people are my cousins Lyla and Diane, whose father was my grandfather’s youngest brother. Lyla and Diane grew up in Montana and California, but moved to Ipswich in the past ten years, returning to a place that they fondly remember from their childhood summer visits to see their grandparents.  

My mom was able to put me in touch with them and we made plans to meet and catch up as we made our way through central SD.  Lyla is an incredibly accomplished weaver and we started the day visiting her classroom in Aberdeen where she teaches weaving.  Ada especially loved it as she has recently been gifted my mom’s loom and is dying to learn the process from start to finish. In fact, she’s already talking about wanting to go back next summer and spend time learning from Lyla.  We then headed to Ipswich and met up with Diane. We chatted for a while and she refreshed my memory and filled in the gaps in stories I’d been hearing since I was a child. We then headed around town (there’s not much to it) to visit the brick memorial garden, the Ipswich Arch, and then a final stop at the library.  I happened to strike up a conversation with the only volunteer at the library and she was able to find the yearbook from my grandfather’s senior year of high school in 1934. As I flipped through it taking pictures, she appeared with two more original copies of the yearbook, which she generously offered for me to keep.  It was such a kind gesture and we immediately went across the street to the post office and I sent them to my mom for safekeeping.

The Ipswich Arch. It originally spanned Highway 12 and one leg of it sat in my great-grandparents yard. When they widened the road it got moved to this spot in a park.

With cousin Lyla in her weaving classroom in Aberdeen.

My grandfather (center back) with his parents and his youngest brother in his parent’s home in Ipswich.

As some of you already know, I am not a sentimental person.  But, this was a very special day for me. For reasons I can’t completely explain, my Paw-Paw holds an especially dear place in my heart and seeing the place that first formed him as a man meant a great deal to me.  His story is long and complicated, and often sad, but ultimately about a man who loved his family and his country. I so desperately wish Ada and Jackson could have met because they would have adored him as much as my sister and I did.  And, they would have brought him such joy at a time in his life that he really needed it.

Thanks for indulging this unexpectedly emotional post.  My intent with this blog is to chronicle our trip and at the same time how it is impacting me personally.  Cameron and the kids are journaling, but for some reason the permanence of putting pen to paper is intimidating to me so I prefer typing my thoughts instead.  If these more sentimental, meandering posts don’t pique your interest I completely understand. I promise to get back to more of the fun stuff next time. And, if you ever really want to see a running chronicle of our day to day adventures check out Ada and Jackson’s blogs.  They are both doing a great job covering all the details in their own unique ways. Just ignore the parts where we sound like mean parents.