When looking at your family cottage, look who it goes to, the various family members and places you visit.

If a child is given love, he becomes loving . . . If he is helped when he needs help, he becomes helpful. And if he has been truly valued at home . . . he grows up secure enough to look beyond himself to the welfare of others.
Dr. Joyce Brothers
1974

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Did you know that just watching and listening to a water sprinkler on your lawn provides solace and serenity. Our chocolate Labradors back from their vacation at the lake and family cottage seem eager to chase squirrels and lay in the sun on the moist grass in their own yard. What a beautiful day in July. We finally got a break from the humidity for a few days.

The labs enjoying air conditioning tire from sunning outside and decide to siesta in the family room. Jake, our chocolate lab, probably dreaming about the lake vacation romp at the family cottage, promptly starts snoring. Ahh – the life of a dog. Our backyard has a pond with four fish. The water rushes over rocks giving that soothing sound. The scenery changes at home. There is no big lake or cottage to sit by, but there is peace in the backyard with the birds chirping and butterflies flying on the bushes. Returning from a cottage always amazes me at how much you miss the beauty of the water.

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I looked at him like wow, this is true kindness (and you are crazy.)

The best moments in life are teachable. I never used to believe this, until I witnessed my husband teach my boys what is and makes a good Samaritan. You know the saying, “what goes around comes around.” It is the lesson in life you train your kids to be good to people, because you never know who you are being good to, or that phrase as a parent you say repeatedly, “be good to others because you don’t know who’s watching you.”

We were summering at a cottage on Good Harbor Bay near Lake Leelanau. We ventured out to the lake on a beautiful summer’s day. We boated on Lake Leelanau with our boys at “Fudgey Beach.” We loved this-the boys swimming, floating on rafts, and tubing – great relaxation medicine! The boat floating next to us had a family with the most beautiful golden retrievers on board. We chatted with the family and commented on how well behaved the dogs were. We decided, as my husband said, “pull up shop” to head back to the cottage for dinner and a beautiful summer sunset.

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“As reported by the Detroit Free Press (see article below) there is unprecedented opportunity for those who have dreamed of owning a vacation home, cottage or cabin to make that dream come true.

After the purchase is completed, furniture moved in and the first family barbeque is voted a success – and cleaned up after, and your children and/or grandchildren are nursing their first sunburn of the summer season, what’s next?

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Every kid should roast a marshmallow by a fire next to the lake, paddle a canoe, catch a fish, dive off a raft, skip stones and and eat an ice cream cone or a freshly made donut from a local food shack which opens every summer for cottage visitors.

Your Cottage Property Could be At Risk
Each summer is a chance to create family memories of good times all over again. You’ve spent a lifetime of summers at the family cottage. Your family memories live there and it’s the only place where laughter replaces ringing phones, the sun is your only clock, and keeping sand out of your shoes and picnic basket is the challenge of the day.

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