Highland Lumber holds Open House

MIO - Highland Lumber recently held an open house, providing an opportunity for the community to visit with the new owners and staff, visit a few of the organization’s vendors and enjoy a BBQ lunch. Highland Lumber is located at 680 East Kittle Road in Mio. They are open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information call 989-848-8000.

Return to Italy

Continued from page 28 attempts were made to speak into the phone (with the app running), resulting in translations that were mostly garbled (oral, written, or not at all). Emotions of exasperation, bafflement, irritation, and displeasure were reflected on their faces. At one point, they were so exasperated when observing their cell phones, a cascade of words erupted, laced with high inflections.

Some of the words I could not comprehend, whereas others I could. Those that I could understand, they blamed the cell phones’ malfunction on the app and the cell phones themselves. A few more words I could understand but are not printable. Accompanying all of this were their hands, waving and emphasizing their thwarted attempts.

Immersed in all of this were numerous fantastically delicious family dinners, one of which was pizza at a local restaurant. On at least one occasion, the discussions and contagious laughter were quite evident throughout the meal. In addition to this was the involvement of the owners, who would stop and converse with us, thus again erupting in spontaneous gaiety and enhancing the jovial gathering.

In the end, despite the difficulties and missteps in communication, we were able to convey our most important thoughts on love of family to one another. If any readers of this article have the opportunity to continue the connection with family members overseas, please explore the possibilities. You may open a renewed world for you and your family.