You are reading this on (or after) Friday, June 26. I am writing it, however, on Thursday, June 19. When this landed in your inbox, I (hopefully) was hopefully outside walking along Lake Michigan. That’s what I do every morning in Door County, which is where we are this week.
For those not from Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, or Minnesota, Door County is like the Cape Cod of the Upper Midwest. It occupies most of the peninsula above the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the actual Green Bay on one side and Lake Michigan on the other. The interior is mostly farm country, but along the water you’ll find charming homes and even more charming villages. People from Illinois and Wisconsin have been coming up here on vacation for well over a century, but in the last 20 years it’s gotten a lot more bougie, with multi-million dollar homes replacing the old summer cabins and a proliferation of foodie restaurants, breweries, and distilleries.
It’s still Wisconsin, though, so supper clubs aplenty are scattered amongst the wine bars. And it’s still the Midwest, so most everything remains family friendly. I’m not sure how many Go Cart parks Cape Cod has, but I’d wager not nearly so many as Door County. It’s also 100 times easier to let the kids play on the beach and goof around in the lake. No sharks to worry about here.
For almost 20 years now, my family has called Door County “home” for one week every year. Back when we first started coming here, the first grandbaby in the family was a toddling two-year-old, and my parents knew that precious years would pass all too quickly if they didn’t find a way to intentionally slow them down. Renting a house, where the whole family could come together and sleep under the same roof for seven days was how they decided to do that. It worked beautifully. Until, of course, it didn’t.
2022 was the last summer we were all here together. Chris and I almost didn’t make it that year. The five of us had caught RSV, and that landed Ellie in the hospital. She was discharged on the day we were supposed to head north. We debated staying home, but in the end, decided to drive up a couple days late. I’m so glad we did. That winter my mom’s Alzheimer’s grew exponentially worse, so my dad cancelled the house for the next summer. By that summer’s end, he was gone and my mom was in a memory care unit.
We all skipped last summer. It was just too much—too much money, too much work, too much grief. But this year we’re back, mostly to say goodbye to this house. The couple who owns it is retiring and moving here permanently, so it won’t be available to rent anymore. My sisters and I wanted to give our kids one last week of memories in the house and spend one last week ourselves with the memories of our mom and dad that fill every corner of it. So, we all chipped in to make this week possible.
I hope this isn’t my family’s last visit to Door County. I dream of bringing my kids back every year, of watching them grow up on the beaches of the inner seas, just as I’ve watched my nieces and nephews grow up here. But who knows what the future holds. For now, I’m just grateful we get one more week in this house. I’m also grateful my mom and dad gave us this gift of so much time together on these sandy shores. It was one of the greatest of gifts they gave us … and among the most enduring.
Five Quick Things
While I’m digging holes in the sand with four-year-olds, I have a few things for you.
Just for you this week, I’ve unlocked one of my favorite essays I’ve written for Substack. I published it last spring, only a few months after we moved back to Steubenville. It’s called, “Making Home: On the Redemption of the Ordinary.”
Right before we left town, we recorded one more episode of Visitation Sessions. This one is on the joys of summer and how immersing ourselves in them helps make us more human.
Lately, Chris and I have been revisiting a favorite old show of mine on BritBox: Foyle’s War. Given my readers’ discerning taste, I assume many of you have seen it. But if not, and if you like well-acted, carefully scripted, thoughtful detective stories set against historical backdrops, I can’t imagine it won’t become a favorite of yours as well.
We found the most gorgeous print of the Visitation at Beata Home and can’t wait to get it hung in our new studio. Beata Home offers a meticulously curated collection of sacred art, available as downloads, prints, and custom framed art, and is just a fantastic resource for hard-to-find prints that bring the sacred into the everyday. The owner, Katie, has been a dream to work with for our custom order, and gave us a code for you to use. Emily15 will save you 15 percent on any purchase from her store.
(beauty)Counter is back! It’s taken fourteen months, but the skincare and makeup brand that I have loved since the moment I discovered it seven years ago has recreated and resurrected itself. It is every bit as clean, every bit as effective, and every bit as wonderful as it was before. It’s just smaller … for now. When Counter relaunched yesterday, it introduced nineteen rebranded products—some beloved favorites from before and some all new—plus a handful of vintage Beautycounter products. More will be added in coming months, but for its launch Counter focused on bringing back the best of the best in skincare and makeup—the essentials that people have been clamoring for ever since the company closed in April 2024 (like the world’s best Vitamin C Serum and my all time favorite facewash). You can see all the the products here, but please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions to me at the email I use just for Beautycounter.
Buy My Books
Once we return from summer vacation, our little online bookshop will open up and stay open. We are working on upgrading my website to improve the checkout process. until then, this Google Form will have to do!
Let’s Meet in Person
If you’re in the Dayton/Columbus/Cincinnati area, pencil in July 19 on your calendar. Chris and I will be speaking in Russia, Ohio that night from 6:30 to 8:30 in the Russia School Local Gym (100 School Street). Admission is free. Reach out to Kathryn Francis with questions.
In Case You Missed It
Secret Baptisms, Toxic Parents, and Praying Through the Single Years
Lovely piece, Emily -- enjoy your well-earned vacation, which I hope refreshes you body and soul. And thanks so much for introducing me to Beata Home. I've spent the last hour oohing and aahing over the website, and am now having to cull my cart...
I hope you don't see this until you're back from vacation, but in your links I think it should say Secret Baptisms, not Secret Parents 😉