When I heard the news that my father had passed away after battling an illness for many years, I was feeling very anxious and heartbroken to say the least. I rapidly hustled back to the north where I grew up to help out with the funeral and to console my family… The original plan of action was to sell my father’s lake house due to the fact my younger siblings and I live so far away from it now that we are all adults. I enjoyed that lake house and have so many fond memories there, so I went with my gut feeling and said that I would take over the house. Well, now that it has been a few months, I am pretty glad with my decision to relocate back up here, even though the winters are simply brutal. The lake house is much more warm during the wintertide than I remember as a little boy, though. My dad must have upgraded the outdated heated gas oil furnace or boosted up the insulation. My father was a heating and A/C repairman before he retired, so he always knew how to maintain his own heating and cooling units and help save cash. I can still remember him telling my siblings and me over and over when we were young, “kids, before you call somebody to come and help you maintenance something, try to learn how to maintenance it yourself.” That message still comes to my mind whenever I am busy cleaning out the heated gas oil furnace on those frigid nights. I sure am feeling blessed that this lake house is still within our close knit family.
