Getting Published

In 2013 the Lansing State Journal my Made in Michigan essay was published. At the time I was asked to write an essay about my travels in Michigan, it had not dawned on me how deeply rooted in Michigan I was and how much I love this state. At the time I wrote this article, I had been traveling and desiring to travel outside my home state for what seemed like a lifetime but in actuality my desire began in elementary school and my travels began as an adult.

Deborah Guthrie Published Article Made in Michigan as appeared in the Lansing State Journal

At the end of writing my published essay, I think I even surprised myself with how much Michigan really means to me. Before the Pure Michigan campaign was developed and spread the love we have for this state, our hearts had already had a pure at heart love for traveling our beloved State of Michigan. Read my essay as it appeared in the LSJ and comment what you love most about Michigan.

“We grow up listening to songs by the Beach Boys, like “Kokomo,” where we visit all sorts of exotic islands, and “California Girls” where every region of the United States holds beauty. Tony Bennett even had every girl wanting to search his heart in San Francisco. “Footloose” had us believing every place was better to live than the town we lived in, while Disney begged us to visit a whole new world.

We wanted to go to these places without realizing our hearts and our whole new world were in our own backyard. For me, that’s Michigan.

When I first met my husband, we always talked about living in Arizona which led us to many vacations. We’ve been to some amazing places like Hawaii, Virgin Islands and almost every major city in America.

In my early 30s and late 20s, I wanted that whole new Disney World in Florida and wanted that California Beach Dream on a Michigan winter’s day. Some of our greatest milestones happened in other places — we fell in love in Arizona, got engaged in Cleveland and brought in the new year in many states revisited for auld lang syne (old times sake). Wanting to not live in Michigan made me fall in love with Michigan. One of our greatest milestones is saying our nuptials at my place of work. I know. Sounds. So. Lame! Totally not. We got married at the Meridian Township Historical Village and it was absolutely perfect and beautiful in every way. We wed under the gazebo by the pond with historic buildings surrounding us.

Just like our milestone moments, the seasons of life are what I love experiencing here in Michigan. When I feel nostalgic, I walk to where I said ‘I do’ for my lunch hour. On our anniversary, my husband and I enjoy exploring new things together like a winery tour, or hiking a sand dune or walking our own Meridian trails. Do I complain about weather in Michigan? Of course! It’s not perfect anywhere. Believe me, I’ve searched for it. I’ve learned I don’t have to travel to the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean to find great beaches listed on Conde Nast travel because my favorite beaches have been and will always be along Lake Michigan.

I have bottles of sand from every beach I’ve been to, but none has ever measured up to the sand between my toes along the shores of Lake Michigan. Yep, I fell in love with Michigan. And witnessing the amount of effort Pure Michigan has made to keep me here, Michigan fell in love with me, too.”