You might say I married into the family cabin. A beautiful lakefront cabin in the Wisconsin North Woods near St. Germain has been in my husband's family since 1973. His parents discovered it on a rainy day that year while on a camping trip in the area. The rain forced them out of their tent and into the car for the day. While exploring the back roads, they found the cabin, which had been part of a small resort that had gone out of business. It was love at first sight, and they knew it was the place they would make many future family memories.
They pooled resources with two other relatives in order to meet the $9,000 asking price. It was a bargain, considering a boat and motor were included.
My introduction to the cabin would come many years later when I began dating my now-husband in 2001. That summer, I was invited to spend nine days with him and eight of his close family members in that two-bedroom cabin. I think it was more of an initiation than a vacation! It was crowded, busy and sometimes crazy, but it was also a lot of fun. The cabin welcomed me in its own special way and by the end of those nine days, I felt a strong bond with it and my future in-laws.
Jim and I married in 2002, and the cabin is now a part of our family of four. The memories we continue to make while jumping off the dock, paddleboating out to an island, catching walleyes in the rowboat and spending cozy evenings around a campfire are the treasures our daughters, now 6 and 8 years old, will take with them as they grow. I married into the cabin, and I am grateful it is a part of our forever family.
Traci Kubisiak, Burnsville
