Linda's Story!
By: Linda Aaker © 2014 (Used with permission)

As Linda mentions in her story, her family (along with another family) were regular LBLR customers from 1992 until 2003. She returned this year (2014) to relax and reminisce a bit, and she graciously agreed to share a few memories. Her story includes references to me a little more than I would have liked, but her memories are great, so read and enjoy. Thanks Linda!     -- ed.

We've been coming to Little Bass Lake Resort since 1992, Jerry's inaugural year. When he first asked me to write something of those memories for the Chronicles, blurred images of sunburns, sandy bathroom floors, and kids sunning themselves on the swimming platform flashed through my head.

That first year my oldest was four and the twins two. I complained to my husband that it wasn't much of a vacation for me: I still had to cook, clean, and care for kids, but he was insistent. And then, I fell in love with the lake... and the loons...

Three memories of those times symbolize what Jerry and LBLR mean to me:

The fish within a fish. My husband and the boys fished... a lot. Ever after the elusive walleye, they also caught northern, perch, sunnies, bluegills, and the occasional bass. Dustin, the oldest twin, became quite a student of fishing and his dad's biggest helper in the fish-cleaning shack... One day, an exclamation of surprise burst forth. Dustin, cleaning a decent-size northern, discovered a recently-swallowed, perfectly-preserved sunfish inside. We have a picture to prove it.

The case of the touching tonsils. On vacation, busy distracted parents can let things slide. Seven year old Dylan hadn't been feeling well, and he'd been making this weird choking noise when he ate, kind of a cross between a cough and groan. He and I were walking together along the sidewalk at the resort when he made the noise again. "Let me see your throat," I finally asked, and was horrified to see that his tonsils were actually touching, with barely enough room for air to pass between them. Needless to say, a flurry of phone calls followed between our doctor in Bemidji and the pharmacy in Grand Rapids, we were able to get him on meds, and he had his tonsils out a few weeks later. Life at the lake.

Not your typical resort owner. Years ago, Jerry had said that in his next career, he wanted to teach English literature to kids who wanted to learn it. I said, "Good luck with that." Listening to Jerry quote, in full Scottish brogue, Robert Burns (or Bobby, as he calls him) or the first six lines of Chaucer's Prologue is a treat, especially to this old English teacher. Last night, in my first trip to LBLR in a decade, we took turns with lines from Hamlet's "To Be or Not To Be" soliloquy. He's still got it! Ask him sometime about his 'Party that Wasn't' - that's quite a story, too...

One would think things would have changed since 1992, but other than the trees growing taller, Little Bass Lake Resort - and Jerry - seem the same, the one constant in an otherwise changing world.

Linda's group in 2003