More than 40 years ago, my parents struggled with your question, realized that the logic didn’t make any sense at all, given 4 small children, mortgage, upcoming college tuitions, etc. They went ahead and did it anyway. My dad argued that it would be the place that kept the family together.
I spent my teens, working with my dad and siblings, building and finishing the house, learning skills and things that I would do and enjoy the rest of my life. I also worked on the lake every summer into my twenties, solidifying my love of being here.
My siblings and I grew older, started having children ourselves, and went our various ways as life and the demands of work and family pulled us in different directions.
But despite living in 3 different states, we all returned to our parent’s lake house almost every summer weekend to enjoy the lake and mountains. During nights around the campfire, siblings and in-laws became some of our best friends, while the cousins and other friends played kick-the-can, flashlight tag, and enjoyed the company of their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and extended family of lake friends.
Eventually, our parents’ house was creaking at the seams as too many of us wanted to share the same precious place. My wife and I made the same agonizing analysis as you are making, and our parents had made, and despite a financial plan that was on the edge, we bought our own place on the same lake.
As Island Girl described, I experienced the joy of watching my kids live summers in t-shirts and bathing suits, making lifelong friends on the lake, whose weddings they now attend as ushers and attendants. I refer to it as their Mayberry RFD summers. Two of my siblings now also have places of their own here.
I was blessed to be able to move here full-time a few years ago, and I’m enjoying the view of life that my parents had when they started.
Did it make sense financially? Absolutely not. But quality of life? Priceless!
I just happy that my dad lived long enough to see and experience how much his vision has kept the family together.
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