September 05, 2011

the lake cottage

The lake cottage - I've written about it several times this summer.  How could I not?  It's my second home, my memory "museum".  Everywhere I look, there are memories.  From the first day back in 2004, to July Fourth weekends with family, and all the card games and big meals in between - I remember it all.  Or at least, I try to.  So this weekend, I wanted to chronicle it, use my photography as a way to capture all the memories.



Our lake cottage isn't new, and it certainly isn't big.  That's what I love about it.  I love that, even without places for everyone to sleep, and even without a dishwasher, the lake cottage is our favorite place to go.  We painted it yellow with red trim - as a family - and now, the paint is beginning to peel.  We had campfires and told silly stories to each other, laughing and enjoying the night.  We churned the sand in the water so that it is now soft and clean, instead of gooey.  It's our place.



I've grown up there in the summer.  Tried new and hard things, done things I never thought I would have the courage to do.  We all have.  Fears of water - gone.  Fears of getting hurt or trying something different - learning to overcome.  

We've spent our weekends together, as a family, and I wouldn't trade anything for that.  As we welcomed three new babies over time, beds were shared and new ones were invented.  Somehow, we made our growing family fit into 800 square feet.   





Now, our family is growing even more (I'll tell you about this later), and the little lake cottage is for sale.  It's painful.  Painful every time a car drives slowly by, painful every time the phone rings and someone asks about it.



How can you sell memories?  How can you just pack up and leave the beds, the table, the sand?  It's like selling a photo album at a garage sale.  There's special meaning that only you are able to comprehend.


But...I've been so blessed.  So blessed to have our lake cottage for the past seven years, to make memories for the majority of my childhood.  The little lake cottage, it's our lake cottage.  We've made it ours just by living, and that's why I love it so much.

9 comments:

  1. beautiful post- so sorry that it's being sold though :( congrats on your growing family!

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  2. oh, that is sad! sweet post, however. growing family? can't wait to hear about that...=D

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  3. It sounds like your lake house is a really fun place to go!!!;) I love all the pictures!

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  4. Aw, well, I hope the new chapter that is coming is just as beautiful, if not more so, then the past.

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  5. I know it is sad to see one of your favorite places go. But you can always find a new favorite place, and make new memories, while still cherishing the past.

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  6. Looks like an awesome place to stay :)

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  7. So sad...however, at least you can never sell memories, and even when you may start to forget, photographs can remind you of them.

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  8. Fantastic post!
    So touching. What a shock at the end! Material will get old and pass away, but memories will never leave you.

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  9. Leah ( leahgirl22 )December 04, 2011

    Wow :) You had a lake cottage? That's awesome...
    I'm sorry you had to get rid of it though :(
    What a sweet post <3

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