Although the cabin is no longer in the family, if anyone in the extended family says "Birch Lake," the memories spill out. The cabin was built when my mother was in eighth grade, and my grandparents lived there every summer for more than 50 years. They would move out to the lake from Holdingford, Minn. — where they lived and which was only about 20 minutes away. The only time Grandma would go into town was to shop for groceries or to do the laundry. And it was an event.

There was an original Soo Line Railroad bell mounted in the yard, and everyone young and old took turns ringing it. Wearing a skirt, Grandma was always cooking in the cabin kitchen; there was the perennial task of picking rocks from sand by the dock and throwing them on shore; and, of course, there was the secret spot for walleye fishing and the patience of parents untangling fishing lines.

The cabin was just the shell to hold the memories for a lifetime. We all miss it.

Katy Hargis, Northfield