South Haven for the 21st year

Written 8/10/2025.I just arrived home after spending the weekend in South Haven Michigan with a group of friends who are more family than anything else.We knew each other from high school but didn’t form up as a friend group until college. Since that time, we all got married, had kids, and got divorced (just me). We’ve had ups and downs. Parents dying, children having major cancer, job issues, you name it. We’ve been there for one another. These are the friends you could call at 2 am and ask them to come over with a shovel and not ask any questions and they would. One of the group’s parents built a place in South Haven Michigan, designed to have family and friends come up and enjoy the lake and time together. 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 extra places that are turned into bedrooms, pool table, hot tub, etc. Large deck where you can see the lake. In the community, there is also a pool and tennis court. It’s a special place.Infants came, then grew into men and women who are out on their own. The amazing thing is that even the kids come back. My son drives from Philadelphia to join. People fly in from different states, we do what it takes to spend the precious 2 1/2 days allotted each year. We hug, catch up, eat, drink, play cards, play Pictionary, read, swim, and my god kids organized a scavenger hunt that required everyone to participate. Listening to the cacophony of conversations the first night is soothing. As the days progress, people break into groups for more in-depth conversations while the kids play games. This year it was poker. Last year it was board games, the year before was Dungeons and Dragons.The reality of the situation is that it is just enough time to catch up and love on one another, but not enough time to get on each other’s nerves. We come from different religious backgrounds, different political views, and different careers. If we lived together, we could probably make it work, but there would be stress involved. This short time is pretty much stress free.I hope that you have a similar group. If not, then maybe find your people and actively do things together. Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.com/subscribe