Sandy’s Dream

Serendipity –  A very broad definition of serendipity is “fate,” “destiny,” or “predestination”. It’s the idea that certain things are meant to happen to you.

It was a lifelong dream, that of owning a cottage.  I was dreaming of a cottage, or in other words, a shack in the woods on Lake Michigan.

Our family usually went tent camping in the Northern part of Wisconsin.  We eventually frequented the area known as Door County.  There we started camping at the Jellystone Park.  This was a family campground geared to the kids, which was a good fit for us at that time.  Then, when the children got older, we started camping at the Penninsula State Park.  We owned a furniture store at this time and found it more convenient to rent a cabin on the Labor Day Weekends.  There was one area that called to me.  This was the South Michigan Drive area.  It was rather rugged, right on the water, in the woods, and everything I always thought of as a dream area for a cottage that we could afford.  

I decided that it was time for my dream to come true.  I had held this dream in my heart most of my adult life, and as a child, also.  I contacted all property owners in the area by mail, hoping to find something suitable for our family.  One such weekend, I was on a walk when I saw a lady from one of the neighboring cottages.  We got to talking, and I told her that I would love a cottage someday.  She told me to check the one a short way down the road, as it was for sale.  This particular one had an accepted offer, so that was a bust.  The realtor I spoke with about the sold property suggested I check out the one for sale down the road.  I had driven up and down this road so many times and had never seen anything that was available.  So, I took my walk further and didn’t come up with anything for sale.  Then, going by the property number, followed a dirt road into the woods.  There in the middle of the woods was a for sale sign.  I never would have found this property because the location of the sign was extremely invisible to the general public.

Upon coming up to the cottage, it looked very cute and doable if peaking in the windows meant anything.  I was really surprised to find this property, as I had literally walked this road many, many times.  After several trips down the road with different family members, we decided that this was truly a surprise and that everyone enjoyed it.  

So, after several trips back to Door County with my daughter, Lisa, checking many, many other properties and in different locations, we decided that we had fallen upon the “family cottage” that I had been dreaming of.  

I felt this was fate, as if I hadn’t shared my dream with a total stranger, I might still not have “Sandy’s Dream”.

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