Goodbye Cottage!

In 1967 my parents borrowed $1,000 against their life insurance policy to purchase a plot of land overlooking Black River Bay in a sleepy little historic village in upstate NY called Sackets Harbor. They recruited family and friends and hand built "the cottage", which has evolved over the past 42 years by the hard working hands of both my father and mother, into a beautiful home.

Growing up we spent every possible moment at "the cottage"; every vacation day my Father earned from working shift work at Kodak Park was spent there....and every summer my mother, brother and I would spend extra time there enjoying the sun and water and the many "Suzy B" boats that my parents bought over the years.

Fishing was great back in the 60's so we all enjoyed many fish dinners which were prepared in the big electric frying pan after my father hand filleted (sp) each fish by hand. WOW, this brings back so many memories it's unbelievable. And we had the best vegetable and flower gardens you could imagine.

Not to mention all of the friends that we all made and kept over the years....we had our annual picnic for all the people who lived on our road....food, drinks, games, oh boy, those were the days!

But time doesn't stand still as we all know, and my parents are at the point in their lives where they need a year round home where they don't have as much maintenance and they don't have to worry if there will be too much snow for them to get out of their little seasonal road. So it's time to go; it's time to end one chapter and open another...for every season....you know the drill. And if there was any question as to the timing of this change; it sold in less than a week and my parents are moving in 1 1/2 weeks....it was time!

It's very sad on one hand, because we grew up there and so did our four children and my brother's three children. They have wonderful memories of spending time there with Grandma and Grandpa....the big tree fort my father and brother and nephew built; watching the sunsets over Black River Bay; going to town to shop in the little boutiques or occasionally go out to dinner at The Boat House, The Barracks, 1812, Tin Pan Galley, or the many other restaurants that have come and gone over the years.

On the other hand, my mother is extremely excited about her new 3 year old ranch style condo that they bought in the village. It's perfect for them. My mom can walk with her walking group every day, she's a hop skip and a jump from her church where she volunteers a lot of time and the museum where she's head of the volunteer committee. They can walk out their back door and go to the Legion for their Friday night fish fry....you name it, it's right around the corner.

So this is it; goodbye cottage; you were good to us and we'll miss you!