A Trip to See Grandma J.'s B.F.F. (July 2024)

Mopsy has always loved Marty Goetz's music and has felt a special affinity for him and his family since they began posting family Youtube videos during the bare stretches of the Covid lockdown. When she came for supper every week, I'd hear the latest updates of their daughter's pregnancy, the news of their grandbaby's birth, and other family news. By extension, they became familiar to me, too.

So when, by chance, I heard about a Marty Goetz concert at Lamplighter headquarters several hours away from us, I knew she must go.  I told her about it and said it'd be her Christmas gift from us, but she hesitated and vacillated and hemmed and hawed and finally said, "No, it's too much money, and you shouldn't have to drive me, and blahblahblahblahblah." 

Like any reasonable daughter, I immediately ordered tickets. 

When I looked at the directions, I discovered the concert was practically next door to Letchworth State Park, the Grand Canyon of the East! For backstory, this park was an important part of my life for several years while I was attending Houghton College (now University). Friends and I would hang out there during the day (and night, not me!), get kicked off the bridge (not me!), swim in the river, and also, I guess, the occasional poetic hipster would stand fully clothed knee-deep in river-rain. 

Both Mopsy and I are blind at night due to congenital cataracts on my end and aging vision on hers, so we brought Susannah along to drive us home in the dark, which meant that she got to hear a middle-aged woman's stories as we tromped through my old stomping grounds. 

I used to go alone to study, dream, and nap in a special, secret-to-me spot on the edge of a cliff. One time, waking up bleary-eyed, I knocked my keys off the cliff. In something straight out of a cartoon, they landed on an small, key-shaped ledge jutting out from the cliff, juuuust close enough for me to reach it if I stretched my arm out to its fullest length. I took my dad there shortly before graduation, and he nearly had a heart attack imagining his stupid daughter choosing that for a napping spot.

Another time, while swimming with a few friends, I was floating down the river momentarily with my eyes closed when the current noticeably strengthened. I panicked a bit and swam out before it got too strong to escape, realizing after the fact that I was floating precariously close to the top of one of the falls. 

Surely God had mercy on an impetuous girl in both large and small ways at this beautiful place. 

Mallory by the Upper Falls. 

We hiked through the park, which for the most part was pretty easy, until we hit the hundreds of stairs we had to climb.  I kept inquiring about how Mom was doing, but clearly, she's in better shape than me. 

Don't worry. She was only pretending to be feeble here. Remember, she's in better shape than I am!

Susannah and Mallory by the Middle Falls.

Grandma and Mallory by the falls! There's no better accessory than a plump baby. 

Then we changed into dressier clothes and drove to the concert, arriving in time for a front-row seat in this beautiful church. (Blurry picture below for the Johnson kids. Tales of the Resistance was front and center!)

After the concert, Mopsy talked to Jenny (Mrs. Goetz), whom she already admired from the livestreams, and then went up front and talked to Marty. I insisted on one picture. Look at that! Mopsy and Marty! A trip to remember.