Bringing up four kids during the fifties wasn't the easiest thing to do. My folks didn't have a lot of money and things weren't always easy. When my parents died and we cleaned out all the drawers, we were amazed at what they were able to accomplish with so little money.
Dad had always wanted a boat for as long as he could remember. His secret dream was to be on the water in a boat for hours and hours on long hot days. His parents, my grandparents, didn't really approve of such things. Boats weren't needed and it was just money spent frivolously. They didn't wish us a happy day as we took off, they just shook their heads. My Dad was smiling and laughing for the whole long ride. I had never remembered him so carefree. The ride, took us to the river. We had never seen it up close before and were amazed by it, but not the least bit afraid as we jumped into the water with the freedom that only a child can have.
We couldn't swim of course, but that didn't matter at all. The water was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to us. We splashed each other and crept out as far as we dared, before Dad would call us back closer to shore. Another family had met us at out destination and the two men put the matching boats in the water and filled each of them with all the food and things we would need for the day. We all climbed in and took off down the the river, side by side. It was the most amazing feeling to be gliding over the water at such a speed. We thought we would be flying into the clouds soon, as the spray hit us in the face and we laughed in delight, getting us completely wet.
After a while Dad and his friend pulled the boats up to the shore onto a small beach area and we unloaded the food and other items. That was the best sandwich I have ever had in my whole life, sitting on a blanket on the beach. As good as it was, I couldn't wait to get back in the water, but we had to wait..until our lunch had settled. Mom and Dad told us that we would sink to the bottom if we went in too soon after lunch. We were so disappointed, until we spied the shells on the beach to collect. We were so bent on finding interesting species of life on the beach we didn't see Dad getting the boat ready to go out again. When we looked up he was being pulled out of the water by his friend driving the boat. He kept falling into the water and holding onto a rope being pulled back up again. Finally, Mom explained they were learning to ski. We sat on the beach and laughed at our father, falling in the water time after time. Finally he didn't fall anymore and they took off for a long ways with my Dad gliding behind the boat with a huge spray of water behind him. We were delighted at the sight of him behind the boat. His friend rode the ski's back to the beach and Dad drove the boat.
They came back in finally to pick us up and ride some more, but Dad told us we couldn't learn to ski until we learned to swim. I remember looking at my brother and he looking back at me, we had no idea how you would do that. Later that afternoon, Dad gave us the basics of swimming and we practiced until we were so tired we couldn't walk. We fell fast asleep on the ride back to take the boat out of the water. It was the most wonderful day we had ever had.
For several years we went off on the weekends to the river with the boat and our friends. Sometimes another couple with their son would join us. The father was older than my Dad, but he laughed and cut-up like a kid. So one day, he wanted to use the board instead of the ski's. He held onto the rope hooked behind the boat and Dad took off. We all stood on the beach and watched as he went under water but still held onto the rope. All that you could see was the shiny part of his bald head, but he wouldn't let go of that rope! I kept thinking that Dad should stop the boat, but I think Dad thought it was so funny, he had to go a little further. To this day I can still see that bald head going through the water with a stream of water coming up from his ears. He never did get up on it and finally gave up, but with a smile on his face.
Finally one day in February a few years later, Dad told us we were going to a new place and that was all he would say. We drove for a bit longer than we usually did and I thought it must be a special place for sure. We didn't bring the boat and I couldn't get my mind around why we were going in such cold weather. By the time we were all a little antsy, and asking, how much longer is it, we came to a bridge and went across it. There was water everywhere and then suddenly it was as though we driving down a road at home. Finally, Dad turned onto a long road and at the end you could see the water again, almost coming toward us it seemed. We leaned up in our seats to see better and get closer to it. Mom began to smile more, but wouldn't say a word. When Dad parked the car and told us we could get out, there was a small house trailer sitting in a very grown up yard, way over my head. The houses next to it were so nice and the yards were trimmed...and then we saw it. The Bay! Forget the trailer and the jungle, the water was right there for us to run to. Paying no attention to Dad telling us to be careful, we skipped around all the tall tangle of growth and down the neighbors yard, straight to the beach. It was more than wonderful in the cold, with the wind coming in off the bay, stinging our faces. Our feet hit the beach at a run.
We walked back with Mom and Dad to the trailer as the neighbors all came out of their cottages to meet us. We were shy as the adults all talked for much longer than we were comfortable with and we really needed to find out where the bathroom was by then. As we got closer to the trailer we saw an old fashioned spigot out back and some places that had been cleared enough to walk in. Dad took us inside and showed us how neat it was. It had one tiny bedroom. We looked around for another bed, but for the life of us we couldn't find one. Dad showed us how the sofa turned into a bed and there was a fold out cot too. It had the tiniest little sink and stove I had ever seen and the ends of the trailer curved down, making that part of the ceiling shorter. But it did have a bathroom that worked, and we made use of that quickly! It was warm too, it had heat, what a wonder that was.
With help from my uncle and many hours of labor on my Dad's part and as much as two young kids could offer, we cleared the lot completely. I got a really bad case of poison oak from the smoke where we burned all the debris that we cleared. There were days when my brother and I thought we would never get to set foot on that sand again, but we did. It just seemed like forever! Dad didn't push us beyond what we could do and we did it happily, knowing that it would be wonderful.
Once the land was cleared, Dad began to build a huge porch on the front of the trailer. It had a cement floor and the end of it opened up completely, to house the boat in the winter. Somehow they found beds and chairs, another fridg, a large table, some chairs and it was complete. We had our own little cottage, sitting beneath tall pine trees and at the end of the yard lay the beach. It wasn't much to look at, but it was a beginning and we loved it. It seem as though we had earned it too, right alongside Dad.
The island had welcomed us with open arms. The neighbors were just wonderful and we all formed a community together. There were houses behind us of every description and down the little roads all around with the same kind of people, weekenders. Oh we all ended up there for vacation weeks at times, but mostly weekends. Beginning in April or sometimes March, we all began the weekends at the cottage.
My Dad spent most of his time there working along at the things that still needed to be done, the yard being a priority. The beach was next, as he pulled and chopped old stumps that had never been removed. He was always happy there and didn't mind fixing the place up at all. We had our chores to do of course, before we could take off for the day. When we were set free, we roamed the entire island, our parents free from worry that something would happen to us. We would never tell if it had, we loved that freedom too much. It was a different time and place then and we roamed until we got hungry, almost like Tom and Huck, we weren't afraid to wander. Sometimes well beyond when we got hungry too. My brother and I became friends with some of the islanders too as we traveled along in our bare feet. The road to our cottage was long and hot when we went in that direction and we never thought to wear shoes, until we had to head home.
Back in those days, it was tradition to have Sunday dinner. We had it there just as good as if we had been home and I think it tasted even better, made in that tiny kitchen. Back at home we had a jar in the cabinet. The jar was for dimes. When we had enough dimes saved, we could build a new and bigger cottage, Dad told us. It was fun to reach up for the jar and add our own dimes to it. My brother and I were always finding ways to make money as we got older and we always contributed to the jar, making us feel a part of it.
We finally had enough dimes and Dad had a full sized cottage built right in front of the trailer and porch! The company put up everything but the walls and we did that ourselves. Like I said, Dad never minded hard work and he was always working at something at the cottage.
The trailer and porch became my brothers and my own little "Sugar Shack". We could pile a bunch of kids in there, day or night. Sometimes other kids would just be there whether we were or not, they knew we would show up sooner or later. Someone always had a puzzle going and cards were always on the table. We learned how to play all sorts of card games. There was no such thing as television down there and we didn't miss it all, we were too busy! Most of the time in good weather and calm seas, we were out in the boat with all of our friends. Anchored for hours out in front of the cottage, we swam to our hearts content or everybody took a turn at skiing.
Coming in close to dinner time and pulling the boats up on shore was a lot of work, but going all the way around the island to pull them out at night was just too much time! After dinner we all changed into our mosquito proof nighttime clothes and built a fire on the beach. Several of the guys played guitars and sang for hours. I try to remember the words they sang, but only a few a left with me now.
We didn't have a lot of money, but we made what we had go a long way. My Dad was able to do almost anything that needed to be done with his own hands. He taught me well and he taught me patience. I treasure the ability that I think was inherited from him, to work with my hands. I think that he also gave me the ability to see beyond the moment and look ahead for things to come. It's funny, my Mom never really enjoyed cooking so Dad began later in life to truly enjoy it down at the river and got quite good at it. I started early wanting to learn how to cook and my grandmother was the inspiration there...but that's another story for another day.
Dad didn't get to live out his years at the cottage as he had hoped. He left us way too soon, but he left us with a lifetime of wonderful memories to cherish and live by.
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