The Wayback Machine: Boblo

I’m headed out in the wayback machine, to a time before cancer. A little history of me, along with history of Detroit, to relaunch my site.

I recently saw a post on Facebook from a high school friend regarding a history film being made about the Boblo Boat Memories Wanted . The Boblo Boat (aka the SS Colombia) was the historic steamboat that transported you to Boblo Island, an amusement park in the middle of the Detroit River. I met my first boyfriend at Boblo Island, and the project inspired me to start writing again, and share my story for the film project…

In 1989, the summer before my freshman year in high school, my best friend’s family took me along on a day trip to Boblo Island. Being an island (and 1989), her parents let us run off on our own for the day, and we met a group of boys from a neighboring Detroit suburb. I hit it off with Mike, and we all spent the day riding roller coasters and walking the island. Mike won a stuffed blue bunny for me, that I have to this day.

Later that evening, we took the last Boblo Boat back to the dock in Detroit. Mike and I walked every inch of the boat, holding hands, looking over the railing, and generally avoiding adults. The night sparkled, and the memory of it is still magical. To this day, when I hear the song ‘Toy Soldiers’ by Mandika, it’s like I’m there again.

At 15, I considered myself a ‘late bloomer’… had never been kissed before, or been on a date. Mike was tall, blonde, handsome… a linebacker for his high school football team, and I couldn’t believe he was interested in me. I waited nervously all night for Mike to kiss me, but being so naive, was not about to make the first move.

Our boat ride finally came to an end, and as my friends’ parents tried to round up the group, Mike and I made our goodbyes on the Boblo dock in Detroit. It was there that he kissed me. I can remember being a little horrified afterwards, and providing my friend and her sisters every detail driving home in the back of her parents’ mini-van. “He put his tongue in my mouth!! What… that’s normal?!”

Mike and I continued to date, and he became my first boyfriend. His family moved that fall to Florida, while we continued our relationship over long phone calls and love letters.

During a visit to see friends, family (and me) the following spring, Mike was killed in a car accident. I spent days in the hospital with his family at his bedside, and when he was taken off life support, later joined them in Florida for his funeral.

The experience changed the course of my life, and shaped the person I’ve become today. I have fond, bittersweet memories of that time, and a special place in my heart for the Boblo Boat.

While I’m not a religious person, I’ve always felt that I’ve had a guardian angel in Mike. Most recently, while I was undergoing treatment for breast cancer in 2011, I was sure he was watching over me, and had a hand in my recovery. Because of chemotherapy, I was told I would likely enter menopause, and would not be able to have any more children.

A year and a half later, following the successful treatment of my cancer, my husband and I were shocked to learn that I was pregnant. From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I hoped for a little boy, and told my husband that if it was, I was sure that my guardian angel had a hand in our miracle. September 9th, 2013, we welcomed our second child into the world. We named our son Dean Michael.