Like many Minnesotans, I went every summer to a lake. As a child it was Lower Whitefish Lake. We then bought a lot with an old trailer on Big Deep Lake. Now we are at a cabin near Aitkin. I am hoping to pass down to my nieces and nephews that same love for the lake. Years ago, I asked some who were at the cabin to write lake stories. They say it all:
"The Deepest Feeling: Once there was a 4-year-old boy named Erik. He was watching his sister, Maria, and cousins, Jack and Hailey, tube. He watched them each fall off and wait in the water as the speedboat swerved around and they got back on the tube. 'It looked awesome,' he said. He went tubing. But just when they were coming home, the tube flipped. Everything went black. He came up for air, but he choked. He cried and said though his tears, 'I am never tubing again.' Some stories don't have happy endings, so the end.
"My Cabin Memories: When I am feeling low, I close my eyes and think about my aunt's cabin. One thing I do at the cabin is tubing with my cousins Hailey, 12, and Jack, 16. Being that I am 11, Hailey and I team up against Jack. We have two tubes, so it's fun for us to go on one and Jack on the other. Tubing is something that brings us together."
"Special Moments: Every time I pack and plan before I come up to my aunt's cabin. I wait for days that seem like weeks; hours seem like they will never pass. But once I get up to the cabin, it seems peaceful then after a day you go on big or small 'adventures.' One memory I will never forget is when I was 6 and I set a fishing pole in the water and immediately caught a sunny fish. At the cabin, you don't think about if it is a cold or warm outside. You care about your adventures and memories you share with your family."
Sara Beckstrand, St. Paul
