AUGUST 2005
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from the EDITOR<br />
Taking a Break<br />
The Power of Your Community<br />
is right behind you.<br />
Every time you turn on a light, thousands of your friends and<br />
neighbors are right there making sure it works. That’s thousands<br />
of Michigan-based Detroit Edison and DTE Energy workers<br />
providing you with the level of service and dependability you’ve<br />
come to expect for over a century. And we’re also right behind<br />
you when it comes to community support; donating more than<br />
six million dollars a year to community causes.<br />
The Power of Your Community SM e=DTE ®<br />
dteenergy.com<br />
Iam a firm believer that<br />
everyone needs to get away<br />
every once in a while. I<br />
know it’s not always convenient<br />
with full-time jobs, children<br />
and other responsibilities.<br />
But a long weekend Up<br />
North can rejuvenate the body<br />
and clear the mind. That is<br />
exactly what it did for me<br />
when my family and I went to<br />
Harbor Springs for the July 4<br />
weekend — a four-hour drive<br />
north of Detroit. No cell<br />
phones, no e-mail and no voicemail<br />
messages to attend to. It was pure<br />
bliss.<br />
It’s really no secret that Up North<br />
Michigan is truly breathtaking and one<br />
of the country’s greatest jewels.<br />
Unfortunately, I don’t think many people<br />
I know experience the countryside<br />
and scenic drive to places like<br />
Petosky, Traverse City and Bay<br />
Harbor.<br />
This month we focus on Northern<br />
Michigan in our cover story. Joyce<br />
Wiswell takes us on a virtual tour of<br />
paradise in Michigan and talks with<br />
Chaldeans who head onto I-75 for a<br />
weekend or two during the year.<br />
Tucked away in a popular vacation<br />
spot is a Chaldean-owned clothing<br />
store that attracts clients from all over<br />
the world. In our Economics and<br />
Enterprise story this month, you can<br />
read about Mark and Kristen Dickow,<br />
who have created a quaint shop for<br />
the avid shopper who spends time in<br />
Harbor Springs.<br />
If you’re not able to take a long<br />
weekend, at least spend a hot summer<br />
day splashing it up at one of our<br />
local water parks. The Chaldean<br />
News headed to Red Oaks Water<br />
Park in Madison Heights and caught<br />
up with teenagers cooling down in the<br />
lazy river and wave pool on a Saturday<br />
in July. On a day when the temperature<br />
climbs into the 90s and the<br />
humidity makes it feel about 10<br />
degrees hotter, taking a dip is the perfect<br />
break from the heat!<br />
Taking time off from your daily routine,<br />
whether it be a week or a day,<br />
can do wonders for the mind and spirit.<br />
Everyone needs to take a break<br />
from everyday life and sometimes notso-everyday<br />
situations. Getting away<br />
from it all may be exactly what people<br />
need when they are grieving the loss<br />
of a loved one.<br />
In this issue, Jovan Kassab talks to<br />
widows about what life is like after<br />
their spouse has died. In her story,<br />
The Forgotten Women, she focuses<br />
VANESSA<br />
DENHA-<br />
GARMO<br />
EDITOR<br />
on how some widows cope<br />
with their grief.<br />
I know from watching my<br />
mother the past three and a<br />
half years (and living with her<br />
up until I married less than a<br />
year ago) how traumatic it is<br />
to lose a husband. Now that I<br />
am married, I can’t image it.<br />
Some widows, like my mother,<br />
have spent decades with their<br />
husbands. In the story,<br />
Kassab gives readers some<br />
useful advice on how to travel<br />
through the grieving process.<br />
Sometimes life just offers glitches<br />
and bumps in the road. In writer Ken<br />
Marten’s story, Cashing Out, we discover<br />
that banks are dropping convenience<br />
store clients that cash<br />
checks and issue money orders — a<br />
Taking time off<br />
from your daily<br />
routine, whether it<br />
be a week or a day,<br />
can do wonders for<br />
the mind and spirit.<br />
significant money-making business for<br />
many Chaldeans. Luckily, there is an<br />
alternative: the Chaldean-owned Bank<br />
of Michigan.<br />
With the twists, turns and sometimes<br />
trauma that life brings, we all<br />
need a detour from the daily road we<br />
tread. So, turn off the cell phone,<br />
unplug the computer and hop in the<br />
car for relaxation at one of the many<br />
vacation destinations in Michigan. Just<br />
do it — take a break!<br />
Alaha Imid Koullen<br />
(God Be With Us All)<br />
Vanessa Denha-Garmo<br />
vdenha@chaldeannews.com<br />
Letters to the editor can be sent via<br />
email to info@chaldeannews.com or<br />
to: The Chaldean News, Letters to<br />
the Editor, 30095 Northwestern Hwy.,<br />
Ste 102, Farmington Hills, MI 48334<br />
10 CHALDEAN NEWS <strong>AUGUST</strong> <strong>2005</strong>