because they’re not. It’s their right to handle this however the hell they want. If they agree on it, I guess that’s what matters. I can hope and dream and do the best I can to influence – but they have the right and will do whatever they want in regard to how this land is handled. I’m just venting and wishing is all…. Ever since that time in 2003 (I was just shy of 23 years old – how does a 22 year-old contemplate the future of a “retirement plot” when he’s still not done with college?) I have dreamed of having a very tiny little cottage on that land and spending chilly fall nights in it with a little fire going, writing a novel, and perfecting my photo skills on the surrounding land. Ever since that first weekend, I have been madly in love with that spot and everything about Detour. It is often in my dreams.
On the other hand, I am incredibly spoiled. In 2005, just before my 25th birthday, I closed on a house and met my future wife all in the same week. THAT was a great week. The spoiled part? The wife’s family has a quaint little summer cottage on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City. It’s not as rustic as the UP, but man the peninsula is really up there and the cottage is “traditional.” Her grandfather purchased the land in 1948, built the cottage himself, and opened it in 1952. Since then all the family’s children have had a part in keeping it in the family, and keeping it for all the future generations to come. The place is classic, and the photo albums of my wife’s mother playing on the beach as a little girl prove it. Someday my wife will be part owner of that cottage. I’ve already been told that on paper I’ll never own it, but unspoken I will be (as my wife’s spouse) part of owner, along with her two other sisters.
The spoiled part is me going there all the time (2.5 hours drive) vs Detour (4.75 hours drive). Maybe I’ve not gone up there as often as I should, or as often as I’d like. To me, there are many pros and cons. But mostly it’s just been easy. The most recent visit to Detour (07/10) was the first time we’ve been up since August 2007 – which is waaaaay too long in my book. It was long over due. But at the same time it has really reminded me just how much I love it up there and just how much I need that place to be a part of me. 4.75 hours vs 2.5? who cares!! Working downtown now I can get there, if I set things up correctly, by 10 pm. Another “spoil” point is the fact that our drive to the peninsula is 2.5 hours, but her parents (3.5, Lansing), sister Katie (7.5, Cincinnati), and sister Becky (6.5, Kenosha) make that drive almost as often as we do and never ever complain about it as they feel the cottage it worth it. They get there in the middle of the night. To me, I agree; a family cottage on water is worth that. Less than five hours drive to that “paradise” is well worth it.
Northern Michigan lake front property carries a sense of tradition with it. For Michiganders who enjoy the outdoors, it is their lifelong dream to get a piece of the pie which is the Great Lakes. My family has a piece of that pie but because they don’t quite have the same path as I; it will not be treated as I wish it would. I might feel that I have a right to inherit it, or maybe out-right ask grandpa for it, but I also know what respect it. I will make sure this is done correctly. I am saddened that money needs to be exchanged and the brothers are looking at this as dollar signs, but it is what it is. And I will comply, while giving it my best.
Pypeline.
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