Family Ties — My Relationship With The Hemingways

My family has always been proud of our relationship with the Hemingway family, yes, I’m talking about THE Ernest Hemingway; literary and creative genius, my brother and I have always had a deep admiration for his work. My personal favorite is his short story, Hills Like White Elephants. I’ve always been inspired by his ability to utilize his words in a way that illustrates a story without saying anything about that story at all. Our relationship with the Hemingways began before I was even able to read; Ernest spent time in Horton Bay throughout the 1800s, the same area where my family had a cottage when I was a kid. He even wrote a short story called, Up in Michigan, as evidence of his stay there.

Horton Bay resides on the shores of Lake Charlevoix and is located between the towns of Boyne City and Charlevoix. My happiest childhood memories took place in Horton Bay, when we were there my entire family was together: my dad, mom, brother, sister, and oftentimes our extended family. The most vivid memory I have of my dad while I was growing up took place in Horton Bay as well. My dad was extremely passionate about fishing and one morning he woke me up at the crack of dawn, so I could embark on one of his adventures. 

I crawled out of my Pocahontas bed sheets, my mom dressed me in my favorite Scooby Doo attire, and I waddled out to the dock with my dad, fishing gear in hand. I crawled into a tiny motorized boat and we set out across the water that was as smooth as glass. Once we were at our desired location, we began fishing and I curiously peeked my head over the boat to see the skeleton of small sunken boat. I was bewildered and scared, but I was with my dad so I knew I was safe. My dad and I returned to our cottage and I was thrilled to show my mom the line of fish I was able to catch, or my dad caught, regardless we both caught some fish and my dad gutted them and we ate them for dinner that night. 

While I was growing up, I assumed that the story Hemingway wrote about his time in Northern Michigan reflected mine; I don’t think Hemingway blissfully set across Lake Charlevoix with his dad to fish, but I assumed Up in Michigan, reflected a time of experiencing beautiful places and meeting beautiful people. One of the reasons I made that assumption is due to the friendship that my family, especially my brother, had with a man who ran a book and antique store called, The Red Fox Inn. Jim was an incredible man who had a passion for books, but more specifically a passion for Ernest Hemingway. I remember Jim’s kids, Ernest and Penny, they would sometimes play on the beach with us or go sailing with my dad. Meanwhile, my brother would become lost in a slew of Hemingway books that Jim provided. He must have made a conscious effort for my brother to not come across, Up in Michigan, since my brother was not aware of the storyline until I initiated a conversation about it recently. 

*TRIGGER WARNING TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO SEXUAL ASSAULT AND/OR ABUSE*

The storyline of Up in Michigan, is far from a tale of beauty but a tale of pain and abuse. The story depicts a woman who is infatuated by a man, I had chills as Hemingway depicted the same general store my family would sit outside during Fourth of July parades, or the immense dirt road that led you to Lake Charlevoix and if you took a right turn, down the road to my cottage. I had chills until the story took a devastating turn, that man took advantage of that woman and left her with nothing but feelings of confusion and violation. I also felt confused and violated after reading the story, so I turned to my brother and asked if there was anything else to the story; was I missing the point? What was the underlying theme? He replied with, “Do you think Hemingway is indifferent to sexual assault?” It was clear that we had both taken the same thing away from the story, Hemingway was either depicting his own experience, or he was indifferent to the matter. I am still interested in anyone’s interpretation of the short story and quite frankly, I would love to hear a perspective that may enlighten me to something I could have missed.

Regardless of my disappointment after reading, Up in Michigan, it is impossible to disregard the relationship that my family has continued to feel with the Hemingways. I definitely have a different perspective and opinion of Ernest but I am incredibly grateful for his grand-daughter, Mariel. In 2017, Mariel Hemingway came to Grand Rapids to speak at i understand’s annual gala. She is beautiful, strong, and as an advocate for mental health, suicide, and addiction, she embodies everything I hope to one day become as a woman; she is the descendent of a legend, but has established her own legacy as well. Mariel is very special to me because she is also the youngest of a family who suffered from various mental health issues and experienced a suicide not only in her extended family, but her immediate family as well. 

As the youngest in this sort of family dynamic, we were both introduced to pain at a young age and had to watch helplessly as the people around us suffered. Mariel highlights these experiences in her book, Out Came the Sun. I’ll never forget when I first read that book and my jaw would drop at countless different experiences and challenges she described throughout her child, teenager, and into her adulthood years. I screamed internally, “Finally! Finally!!” I had found my long lost confidant, someone who had experienced the same exact emotional turmoil I did while I was growing up; these experiences made me feel isolated and even more reserved, as the painfully shy child I already was. When I had the opportunity to thank Mariel for sharing her story after the gala was over, we were both in tears. I cried even more when she wrote in my copy of Out Came the Sun and I’m crying again while I write this, “Maddie, my own mountain daughter, stay in touch.” I have always believed that everything happens for a reason, I’m sure Mariel touched many other people when she spoke that night but it almost felt like was meant to be there for me. 

She was meant to be there and to reassure me that I was not alone and that I had never been alone, that there are people out there who understand what I’ve gone through and continue to go through on a daily basis. Mariel was able to do so by simply sharing her story, she is proof that by simply being honest with yourself and others that you can make an impact. I am appreciative of Mariel’s courageousness, to this day, I read and re-read the various passages I have highlighted in her book. Mariel and my family all agree that her coming to speak at i understand’s gala was an act of divine intervention from my father and her grand-father. After years of growing up in “Hemingway’s Michigan,” my brother and myself finding joy, fascination, and distress in his stories, I have found peace in knowing that my dad and Ernest are together somewhere, fishing and plotting ways to properly unite two broken families into one.