John texts me the night before saying he is working on getting us a ride to the old island. I immediately light up. Christian and I pack up the airbnb and meet John at his house. I hadn't realized how close his house was to our island. We drive down to meet his neighbor who has a nice new motorboat that he likes to drive extremely fast on.
John isnt sure if we will be able to go on the island as he hasn't been able to get a hold of him on the phone. We slow down and I dont even realize where we are at first. John has to clarify that, that is our old place. We see Charlie outside and John shouts, "Hey! It's John, I have Carole and Arthur's daughter with me!" "Come on up" Charlie replies.
I give Christian a tour of my old summer home, starting with the dock and how our cat would run up the dock as soon as we let him out and go hang out under the house. We walk through the kitchen and I point out the cupboards my dad painted and the painting of me and our cat in a boat. Still wish we could have taken those doors off the cabinets and brought the to our next place, but it is so nice that two owners have still kept them. Charlie even mentioned wanted to get them fixed up where the paint is chipping.
Everything felt smaller as I walked through the rest of the house and surrounding land. A lot more trees cut down to bring our house and Charlie's a lot closer. "Let me know if you ever plan on selling the place," I say as we leave. He has no intention of selling it. It's ok. Maybe Christian and I will find a place of our own.