When my dad was in high school, Granddaddy built a house on Dalewood Shore Lake outside Meridian, MS. It was a quaint little house, 2 bedrooms, one bath, house with a huge second story porch. The house was all on the second story with a huge garage underneath to store the boat and all the boat toys. The driveway was long and steep and went straight into the water as a boat ramp. We had a nice pier that you could tie the boat up to, swim/play in front of, fish from, etc. One of my fondest of the lake, and there are many, is that each year Granddaddy "carpeted" the pier in some sort of "astroturf" and cap the wooden posts of the pier with aluminum foil so none of the kids would get splinters. He wasn't the mushy type of grandfather but he really went out of the way for his family in many many ways. And Grandmother would go out and rake the sand in the shallow water, removing all the muscle shells so we didn't cut our feet. You always knew when you ventured too far into the neighbors property when you started to feel the shells!
Much of my childhood revolves around trips to the lake. My dad has a brother and sister who both have lived on the East Coast. We lived about 2 hours from Dalewood so our summers involved lots of trips over for weekends at the Lake. My Mom's family was from Meridian too so there were lots ofjoint family reunions.
I learned to ski when I was 6 years old. Mom and Dad were off at Montreat (a little slice of heaven) and my brother and I spent half the week with Pop and Grammy and the other half of the week at the Lake with Grandmother and Granddaddy. I was determined to learn to ski that week. Granddaddy had just bought some new training ski's (because he ran over the old kid ski's and chopped on in half the summer before) and i was ready to learn. He was in the boat by himself and my brother sat in the shallow water with me, holding me steady and telling me what to do. I don't know how long it took me to get up on the skis but I just know that I fell in love quick. Being the second youngest cousin in the family, I never was as good as my older cousin's but I progressed to slalom skiing in the next few years.
My dad's family would all gather at Dalewood at least once a year. Instead of remembering birthdays of all the cousins throughout the year, we celebrated with one big "Cousins Birthday Party". Anyone at the lake the weekend of the big get together was included on the cake... relatives, cousins-cousins, friends. It didn't matter. If you were a "kid" your name went on the cake. We all brought small gifts for everyone and they were stuffed into paper bags that we decorated the day before/day of. Homemade PJ's were a favorite and of course any type of toy that shot water! And remember, all of this is 20+ people in a 2 bedroom, one bathroom house. Showers were optional, we bathed in the lake (right, thats clean) and we squeezed mattresses in wherever they would fit.
My fondest memories revolve around our weekends/weeks at "The Lake". The summer before my sophomore year of High School, Granddaddy decided it was too much work for him to keep up the house and the yard so he sold the house. Most of us kids were really mad at him. We understood but we were so sad that "The Lake" was no more. We vowed to meet each summer and we did. The following year we rented a house in Montreat and had a great time. No water skiing but still a great reunion. Granddaddy died that December and we all knew that him selling the house was the right thing to do and were glad he did it when he did. We sat around after the funeral, writing down all the little things Granddaddy did and said over the years. Most of our memories revolved around weekends at The Lake.
Wow, this is long.
Last year, on our anniversary, I asked Ryan what he thought we'd do in the following year. He jokingly said "buy a boat". Ryan had never driven a boat but had always dreamed of one. Of course, my dream has always been to live on a lake. One day, one day. Ryan's joke turned out to not be much of a joke. That weekend he found a boat in the paper that was just a steal. Within 2 weeks, I paid off my car note and replaced it with a boat loan... we owned a boat. Not knowing if we would enjoy the boat enough to balance out all the work, we really dove into this purchase. Ryan had never skied, never wakeboarded, nothing. Of course, the first time we took it out and I skied behind it I wrote home to my parents that I had died and gone to heaven... which I had. Ryan has learned to drive the boat, we work well as a team getting it in and out of the water, off and on the trailer. Ryan has also taught himself to wakeboard and gets better each time we go out. I think his height hurts him a little, but as with everything, he rises to the challenge.
This summer, we rented a house on Lake Conroe, where we keep our boat in storage, and my parents, my brother and his wife and little girl, and Ryan and I stayed the weekend. Ryan's parents and one of his brothers came out for a day, keeping with the family tradition of opening our doors to the extended family and friends. It was a great weekend. My brother, Ryan and I got up early both mornings to enjoy the calm waters and got some great skiing and wakeboarding in. My niece enjoyed playing off the pier and at the "beach" on the "island". I hope this can continue and maybe one day, one of us will own our own house on a lake again.
Here are our pictures from the weekend. My brother is still a far better skier (and wakeboarder) than me! He even successfully jumped both wakes at one time. YIKES!!!!
I am slightly glad that wakeboards didn't exist when we were growing up. I am pretty sure my brother or my cousins would have severely hurt themselves because they are so much easier to do tricks on than skis.In closing, I have to thank my Grandparents and my parents and my dad's family for all the great memories growing up. They will be with me forever and I love you all.
A few more pictures are here.
300+ pictures are here.
EDIT: Dad informed me that Grandmother did ski at least once in his life, but that she would not drive the boat after almost killing Granddaddy one time. I'll have to get that story later.
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