Lake House Diaries 16

     Greg and Ethel's health issues were on the rise, and the inevitable became reality when they announced that they had spent their last summer at the lake. They had made some very dear friends in the close knit community of the bay in which they lived, and that would be the most difficult aspect of staying away, perhaps never seeing their friends again. Over the last few years, they had had an abundance of time to process this eventuality and they seemed to come to terms with it graciously and without remorse. Some of the best years of their lives had been spent at the Lake and now it was time to move on. 

    It was some time during this transition that talks were underway between Greg, Wes, Paul and Helen in regards to the future of the Lake house and how it could be kept afloat financially. An exceedingly generous offer was made by Greg to finance all expenses. The money could come out of Greg and Ethel's reserves and would last until such time that they needed the money for their own care in an assisted living facility. It was decided and arranged, and a few weeks later, when Wes and Megan were sitting down to dinner with Tod and Em that the news was broken. Tod and Em were speechless. They had no idea that this was in the works and were offended and disappointed that they had no say in the matter. The rift in the sibling relationships was deeper than they had suspected. The worst thing was that Tod and Em could detect no reason for it. What was apparent, was that communications between some family members was deteriorating.

   For the next few years, the Lake House did not seem like a 'happy place'. It was a constant reminder of the alienation happening between the owners. True, there were no financial pressures to burden any family and there was cooperation in the scheduling of which family got which week, but everything there was a reminder of happier days and days when Ethel and Greg were there to anchor the family. Wes and Megan gradually became the 'caretakers' and had a handle on all systems, policies, and procedures. Megan's family owned the property immediately next door, so they were there often during the summer months, and not only kept an eye on things, but did many repairs and add-ons over the next few years. They were greatly appreciated by all and became the 'life-blood' of the Lake House. 

     When the COVID years hit, they still had access to the property and kept it running during the absence of others and during the installation of a new roof and the sweeping wild fires that came raging down the mountain just west of the property. But everything and everyone survived, except Greg. It was during this time that Greg succumbed to a deteriorating health condition. Ethel was now on her own, staying in an independent living facility. Living without Greg's income, and dipping deeply into her savings for monthly expenses, created a situation where subsidizing the Lake House became an untenable situation. 

    This put a different light on the Lake House's financial situation once again, and adjustments were going to have to made.