My Daughter Tried to Keep Me Out of the Lake House I Built, But When She Arrived for the Fourth of July, I Had Already Made Room

before dark.

It took eleven months.

Every other weekend I drove up from Atlanta to check on progress. I brought Earl coffee and sandwiches. I swept sawdust off the porch before the railings were even finished. When the kitchen cabinets went in, I stood in the center of the room after everyone left and cried so hard the sound bounced off the unfinished continue reading …