The Cottage

We would go up to the cottage with Grandma and Grandpa. Even after we got our cottage, we'd go up with them and mom and dad would follow later. One time, a dog up the street from us had puppies, and I stayed there all day! I sat in the dirt with them and I was in 4th or 5th grade because our house burnt down when I was in 4th grade, and we lost our dog Tammy due to smoke inhalation. Dad promised me that I could get another dog, so I was plotting! I had a favorite. She was brown with some black. Her mother was Jodi and her dad was Duke. I loved Duke...he looked a lot like Tammy! As soon as we would get to the cottage, I would yell for Duke and he would come over and hang out with us. He was an awesome dog!

Anyhow, Grandma and Grandpa let me stay at Jodi's all day playing with the puppies. Somehow, I convinced my mom that it would make a great Father's Day present for my Dad, and that's how we got Muffin. Aunt Char picked out that name, however. I don't know that I would name my dog after a food., but I was just a kid.

Muffin was a good dog. She was great with people, and she looked like a mop. Her downfall was that she ate a lot of shoes and underwear.

When my parents bought a cottage on the street in front of Grandma's (Grandma lived in Woodrow and we lived on Leeside) we would visit, but had our own sleeping quarters. We always remember the Denk Kids (Connie and Al's kids) at the Lake!...Especially the time when Lauren backed down the driveway and into a neighbors tree in Uncle Al's new Mitsubishi! They loved playing the leaves.

Grandpa used to come wandering through our cottage bright and early in the morning whistling, with newspaper in hand. He never cared that anyone was sleeping and no one ever got mad at him.

Grandma enjoyed the cottage, but not as much as Grandpa. She liked to sit on the boat, but she was always ready to go back home to Chicago!

It was nice that Grandpa's friend, Al Valenza had the cottage next to us for years. Grandpa was friends with everyone. We had a lot of good times at the cottages.

And, if there was overflow at ours, we would go to Grandma's to use the bathroom or take a shower! We had wells, so we had to monitor how much water we used.

Grandma and Grandpa used to like to go to this place in Antioch for breakfast. It was called the Country Squire at Rte. 173 and Rte. 59...it's still there today. It's a typical Greek-style family restaurant. Grandpa always ordered his coffee "unleaded."