I started going to "the lake" as a child more than 60 years ago. Back then, "the lake" meant my grandmother's cottage on Lake Bemidji. Our family spent many fun-filled days there with our aunts, uncles and cousins. When I graduated from college and moved to the Twin Cities for work, my family continued to meet at the lake where we could catch up on our lives and share our memories of summers at the lake. In the late 1970s, my wife and I were fortunate to buy our own lake place and "the lake" changed to mean our cabin on Woman Lake. In 2007, we were able to replace our old worn-out cabin with a new cabin that has enabled us to share the lake with family and friends. Whether relaxing on the dock on a sunny day or sitting in the cabin watching a storm roll across the water, there is no better place to be.

Having grown to love life at the lake, it is really fun to see that the lake now means just as much to our children. My daughter Brynne described it so well in a collage of lake pictures she gave to my wife for Mother's Day:

"I could take a million pictures at the cabin and still fail to capture my favorite things about this place: the fresh air, the sun's warmth upon your skin, the sound of the waves lapping against the shore, never needing to know what time it is, the bright stars at night, the smell of a bonfire or charcoal grill, spending quality time with friends and family, the coo of the loons, the eagle soaring above, the wind in your hair on a boat ride, a refreshing swim on a hot summer's day, the way the sun reflects on the ripples in the water. But most of all, the reassurance in knowing that whatever happens in life, I always have this home away from home as a retreat and a reminder of how lucky I truly am."

DONN SATROM, ROSEVILLE

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