The End of an Era

I was 10 years old when my parents purchased the lodge.  I remember that first summer well.  Mom had to rip us out of school early because dad actually purchased the lodge without her permission and now all of a sudden she had to go manage it.

Being only ten years old, I really couldn't do much to help.  My brother and sister were older so they both worked and did what they could.  I was left to explore the new building and visit with the residents that lived there.  Back then it was much smaller and very out of date.  I remember going downstairs to a big, dark, open room with no windows and black and red shag carpeting.  I remember being scared going down the dark narrow hallway to the nursing care wing with a brick wall on one side and the windows of the bedrooms on the other side.  I'd never go down there alone.  Now when you ascend the stairs the big open space is light and airy with big windows to let the light in.  The flooring has been replaced with light tiles and the dark narrow hallway to the nursing care wing now has what we've called, the solarium.  Big open windows going down that dark hallway is now where the residents sit in a bright open space.

It's hard to believe how much of our lives were spent in that place and now with it sold, it's like a huge family member is gone.  When the three of us children tried to go different ways, we all ended up working there.  We all lived in that small trailer next to it and we've all watched our babies walk the hallways knowing that they could sneak upstairs to the kitchen for a treat.  We've watched our last living grand parent pass away in those walls, knowing that we did everything we could possibly do to keep her comfortable in her last remaining years and feeling blessed that she was with us throughout our most difficult times.

For the past 23 years the Lodge has dominated our family conversations.  It's not like a normal job that you can just switch off when you leave at the end of a work day.  We've always turned our Christmas dinners, Mother's Day brunches and Easter suppers into a conversation about the lodge and what needs to be done next, when to give raises, when we can buy new furniture and how we deal with unfavorable employees.  I can't imagine what we're going to talk about now!

So even though the Lodge isn't ours anymore, it'll alway hold a deep place in my heart.  I've walked those walls in my wedding dresses, yes both of them.  Paraded my 3 newborn children through the hallways only to chase 2 them a year later, buried a dog in the back yard and watched my dying grandmother play with my little baby's feet.  So many memories.