So, hey, this is a blog about medical self-advocacy, neurodivergence, and trauma stuff, but the name doesn’t match up… You’re over there scratching your head so I will fill you in on “why.”
Many people know what a Wisconsinite is but “Yooper” – well, that’s a term unknown to most. A Yooper lives in the UP: The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—Wisconsin’s unwanted neighbor.
A Yooper speaks similarly to Canadians on the Red Green TV show, eats pasties, and has a steady diet of venison to go with WI beer and cheese curds. Buried in thick national forests and snow-covered for nearly 9 months a year, it makes sense that the region is populated mostly by Indigenous Tribes, Finns, and Swedes. You have to be pretty resourceful and resilient up there!
Into this Midwestern gem, I was born. I spent my early years in Northern Wisconsin on Chequamegon Bay and moved to the UP halfway through my childhood. I found my way back to my WI roots to raise a family but the Yooper is a foundational part of my being. I mean, trudging through several feet of snow in negative degree temps to deliver newspapers while icicles form on your eyelashes IS going to make you a stronger person!
The beautiful parts of my childhood include swimming in the vast, chilly Lake Superior with horse flies targeting any skin left above water, iron ore-stained shoes and bell bottoms, waving to everyone who walked or drove past, and mischief with my sisters.
But living that isolated brings challenges. Bars are as numerous as churches. People commute long distances for higher-paying jobs. Under-employment is rampant. Abandoned houses become meth operations. Social services are poorly funded. Specialty health care is often months out & a 2+ hour drive one way so—heaven forbid—you finally snag an appointment and a snowpocalypse hits… You do NOT cancel!
From these hardships, Yoopers honed stubborn determination and self-reliance. You’re on your own for most things due in large part to the economic depression as logging and mining dwindle. UP communities are creative and everyone does what they are able. For example, when I lived in Ewen, MI, the volunteer first responder was a disabled man with a bicycle and a reflective vest. He kept people safe from downed power lines and did basic first aid until an ambulance arrived from an hour away.
So now you know what a Yooper is. But maybe you’re still asking why I chose this obscure name for the blog. Well, it’s because growing up here with this collection of experiences molded me into the person I am now. Obviously, my neurodivergent brain and perception impacted that, too, but I can’t see myself being the same wife, mother, friend, or advocate without the direct influence of life in Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula.
Say ya to da UP, eh!
Wisconsinite Yooper 