I never really knew how much I took it for granted

When I was a child, my grandparents had a place in a corner of North Lake in Coldwater, MI.  This picture was taken in 1977, and truly doesn't do it justice.  My grandparents had a double lot so there was a full garage along with the trailer.  Because it was in the corner, we had amazing views of the wide open lake without the "boat" traffic right outside our door.  I can still remember how fun it was though watching the boats out on the open lake.  The trailer was positioned such that the big living room windows faced the water.  We spent time there every summer as a child, and because my parents had very little, it was usually our family vacation.  By the time we were a little older, we were making two or three trips there every year.  It was a 3.5 hour drive, so very doable to go back and forth.  My grandpa's brother had a place right around the corner from us, and very good friends had a place next door to them.  These are amazing childhood memories for me.

Of course I knew this was special because it was from my childhood, but until I got older I really didn't realize how truly special this was.  When I was in high school, my grandparents sold this place because the drive back and forth was getting to be too much.  They built a cottage on a lake just about 45 minutes from home.  It was nice.  Truly, it was.  But it was built on a channel with no open water views.  By this time I was also not nearly as excited about spending time with my grandparents, so the visits up there were a little less frequent and usually with friends.  My grandfather developed Parkinson's Disease in his 60's, so this place was sold before I turned 30.

I'd never really thought about how much my grandparents' place on the lake shaped me.  As I was looking through photos of the my adult life, I realized I LOVE having water as the backdrop.  And it's true.  I could just sit and look out at the water all day.  That's kind of what I did on Thursday.  While we've seldom been able to afford to stay in places with water views, almost always the water has been a factor in our vacations as an adult.  I'm so very, very grateful that I can make those memories with my family these days, and I'm even more grateful for the memories from my childhood.  I know now that I took those days (and views) for granted.