Silverlake and other stories
August 4, 2020
In 1972, Jess heard about a small summer cabin that came up for sale on Silverlake. He went right out to see the property, called mom, and she agreed, sight unseen, that the one-room cabin, with no running water and a porta-potty was an opportunity not to be missed.He bought it the same day.He was right.
There started the tradition of a standing open invitation to friends, each Sunday, to enjoy barbecuing and boating at the lake.Over the years, Jess crafted the cabin into a beautiful lakeside retreat his family moved into, as their primary home.From sharing his love of bass fishing, to swim tests for the kids, where Jess swam underwater to make sure their feet weren’t touching, to getting people up on skis, no matter how many times they fell, Jess worked hard to make the cabin a place of lifelong memories and magic.
Jess helped create a place where kids loved to bring their friends, grandkids spent the summer, extended family gathered on holidays and annual cribbage tournaments were held.Every visitor got a boat ride around Goat Island, to see the wild goats.It was a badge of bravery to let Jess pull you on the inner-tube, as he would inevitably pull you through the lily pads and try to flip you off by circling the boat and creating gigantic waves. When the electricity went out, Jess would light candles and pull out his guitar to serenade us with songs we will always remember, like The Fox Went out on a Chilly night.During the last few months of his life he was teaching himself how to play Classical Gas on his guitar.
At night a huge fire would magically appear in the fire pit, along with supplies to make smores. Enchanted evenings around the fire pit, where family stories were told. Ahhhh. The stories.Jess loved telling stories and over the years our family came to cherish the classics.Remember the time when dad was showing us how to safely use the new canoe, and he flipped it in the water; or when he went scuba-diving with Floyd only to surface and see photos of a large shark following them beneath the water; or the time when he had students drop raw eggs, packaged in various coverings, out of his second story classroom as part of a science experiment, or when his children would have slumber parties in the yard, he would sneak into the lake at night, cover himself with lily pads and weeds and come out as a swamp monster, scaring all of their friends.Our family is also left with a beautiful children’s book he wrote about characters that live in the rainbow, and a multitude of poems and songs reflecting his perspectives about life and his deep appreciation and love for his wife Jeannine.
By Jamie
There started the tradition of a standing open invitation to friends, each Sunday, to enjoy barbecuing and boating at the lake.Over the years, Jess crafted the cabin into a beautiful lakeside retreat his family moved into, as their primary home.From sharing his love of bass fishing, to swim tests for the kids, where Jess swam underwater to make sure their feet weren’t touching, to getting people up on skis, no matter how many times they fell, Jess worked hard to make the cabin a place of lifelong memories and magic.
Jess helped create a place where kids loved to bring their friends, grandkids spent the summer, extended family gathered on holidays and annual cribbage tournaments were held.Every visitor got a boat ride around Goat Island, to see the wild goats.It was a badge of bravery to let Jess pull you on the inner-tube, as he would inevitably pull you through the lily pads and try to flip you off by circling the boat and creating gigantic waves. When the electricity went out, Jess would light candles and pull out his guitar to serenade us with songs we will always remember, like The Fox Went out on a Chilly night.During the last few months of his life he was teaching himself how to play Classical Gas on his guitar.
At night a huge fire would magically appear in the fire pit, along with supplies to make smores. Enchanted evenings around the fire pit, where family stories were told. Ahhhh. The stories.Jess loved telling stories and over the years our family came to cherish the classics.Remember the time when dad was showing us how to safely use the new canoe, and he flipped it in the water; or when he went scuba-diving with Floyd only to surface and see photos of a large shark following them beneath the water; or the time when he had students drop raw eggs, packaged in various coverings, out of his second story classroom as part of a science experiment, or when his children would have slumber parties in the yard, he would sneak into the lake at night, cover himself with lily pads and weeds and come out as a swamp monster, scaring all of their friends.Our family is also left with a beautiful children’s book he wrote about characters that live in the rainbow, and a multitude of poems and songs reflecting his perspectives about life and his deep appreciation and love for his wife Jeannine.
By Jamie
