Other things may change us, but we start and end with family

There is nothing like visiting family. It makes you realize so much about yourself and about where you came from. I wish so badly that I was able to visit mine more often. Although I was born in Detroit, Michigan, I grew up mostly in the South. To this day, all of my extended family, both Marshall and Kline sides, live in MI. In the last year, however, I have been able to visit more than I have in the last five years! This past weekend, my dad, mom, sister and I flew to Michigan for my Grandma Marshall's memorial service. Although the circumstances were not ideal, I am still so happy to have REALLY caught up with everyone. It was a wonderful service and I was able to meet many friends and extended family of my parents. They were surprised to see folks that they haven't seen in almost 20 years! My mom's family came to the memorial too, and I was happy to visit with them as well. Earlier in the day, we were able to visit my Grandma Kline and Marshall's homes and look through hundreds of old photos that both of my grandmothers had collected for years. It was a special experience, but I miss them both dearly. It has been a hard year for us, but we will stick together and get through it. :)


On a lighter note, however, it wouldn't be a trip to Detroit without visiting the famed Buddy's Pizza. My mom's only dinner request whenever we visit, is to get a famous square deep-dish pizza and Antipasto salad from Buddy's. Of course there is no complaining because this pizza really is one of the best I have ever had. Seriously, y'all, we ate there on Thursday night with Uncle Mike, Aunt Genia, Uncle Tom, and Aunt Cindy, and again on Friday night with the same group plus my cousin Mike and his wife Maureen and their kids, Justin, Sean and Declan and my other second cousins Kyle and Isabella. I mean this pizza is serious business. And, don't fret, of course I took pictures.


Shoutout to my sister, who understands the importance of good blog photos. She expertly helped me arrange everything just right. :)

Mom's favorite Antipasto salad! It was loaded with ham, salami, cubed Mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and the BEST dressing!

These are Buddy rolls. Umm.. AMAZING. The sauce was perfect, and vaguely reminded me of the sauce used by Mungoni's Pizzeria in Lexington's Old Mill circa 1997. (It has since moved to Main Street and is called Cardoni's)I used to order the pizza bagel there after school almost everyday!

Of course, Jessica tried the spaghetti with meat sauce! I helped her "almost" finish it. So good!

Here is our deep-dish square pizza! Half cheese, half mushrooms and green peppers = YUM! Once again, I don't know what my problem is, I forgot to take a pic before we dug in. :) PS: That cheese was melting everywhere.. just like it looks in the picture. Ha!

Too bad this is blurry! He wanted to take this because he was "made in Detroit!" Ha! If only I could show you some of the other photos taken of Dad from this weekend. He would kill me if I posted the funny ones, but if you are a Marshall, then you probably know what I mean when I say.. "Yo, homie." Ask Dad if you see him, and he'll tell you the story. :)

After the memorial service on Saturday night, we headed over to my cousin Mike and his wife Maureen's house. The food and company were great, and I wish we could do it every Saturday night! I look forward to visiting again as soon as possible. One thing I am proud of.. I love being a Marshall!

Have a great week, y'all! I won't be too busy this week, but I did buy the new Food Network magazine in the airport on Thursday, so I am starting to browse for some new material.. Could get interesting..