GOING BACK TO 1985

For the love of the St. Clair River

This is the story of seven girl friends who decided they

would get together for a weekend at Stag Island

on the St. Clair River

at

MEYOONOOTIN

The cottage of the

O'Rourke family

since 1979

We decided to call it

BEST FRIENDS WEEKEND

It all started in

1985

Within the walls of the cottage

we have

laughed

cried

told secrets

expressed our hopes and dreams

we have

said how we loved our

husbands

our children

and

grandchildren

we have been

silly girls

serious girls

have even gone to the depth of our souls

have had

fashion shows

have had

our toes painted

our hair styled

and

HAVE LOVED ONE ANOTHER FOR

OVER FORTY YEARS

We have had 20 weddings

We have had 39 grandchildren

We have buried 2 children

We have buried 3 husbands

and

A wedding this summer

Everyone remembers Mugan and Casey

June 3, 2011

O HAPPY DAY

From left to right

Anita who we refer to as Mugan

Janette

Another Anita.....she and Anita

both married the Ouellette brothers

thus

Anita became Mugan

(her maiden name)

Sue

Georgette

and

me!

Donna Mae was not in the group photo

HERE SHE IS!!!!

You really had to be careful of the chair

It sure was tippy as you can see!

Back in those days we did not have

the shade of the maple trees

The island had a nickname

LUG ISLAND

What a job getting all the luggage and food from the mainland to the cottage and then back again........

I have to add....

the food did not go back!

Anita... Donna Mae... Sue

Georgette...Mugan...Janette

Another BFW

Waiting for the ferry

One of the loves of my life

Bear

He was the only 'male' allowed!!!!

Oh my gosh

Check out the pjs

Check out the socks

Hair colours are starting to change

Does that mean we are getting older????

Does that mean gray is creeping in?????

Janette was 'complaining' that she never sleeps anymore

Look at her

Every time we turned around

she was sleeping

What can I say about cottage life

and

river air

Is this anyway to wear an apron???

I thought an apron tied around the waist!!!

Kelly...... Donna Mae's daughter gave us

seven wine glasses

The kitchen has changed

We now have a bar area

It seats seven

The girls must be working on breakfast

with all of them in their housecoats

Janette was and is in charge of

THE BOOK

She has been writing in the book since the beginning

No one has seen what is in the book except for the girls

When the time comes...............

The first girl will take it to heaven with her

I can give you just a little 'peak'

All the children's wedding dates are in the book

along with the birth of each grandchild

but

I can't tell you anything else!!!!!!

At the end of each weekend Janette reads from the book

It's funny sometimes as none of us can remember

something that might have read

WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THIS OR THAT

WE LAUGH AND LAUGH AND LAUGH

Last year we did not have our weekend as Donna Mae's husband Mike was very ill

So...........

it has been two years since I hid the book

I went right to the hiding place

however

the book was not there

YIKES

HOLY COW

AM I IN TROUBLE

Well, I had to give Janette a new book

but the girls have my word

I will turn this cottage upside down

to find the hidden book!!!!!

We also have a new cart

What a wonderous invention

This was Joe's idea and we have Curtis

giving the girls a hand

The cart was a first on the island

Now there are many, many carts

OH OH OH

We had another male visitor

The boy and his Mom came for a visit

A nice surprise

You see

We did do girly things

Mugan is having a pedicure

Over the years the decor of the cottage has changed

In the background you can see posters on the wall

We have travelled many places

and it was always great to look at the posters

and remember the good times we had

Here we are all snuggled under an Afghan that my friend Mrs. David made for the cottage

I have skipped a lot of 'picture' years

Once the photo album was full

I must have stored the pictures

somewhere safe and sound

They are tucked away just like the book

Now we are into 2008

We have come leaps and bounds

The island now has a cart and wagon

Boy does it come in handy

Joe must have come back to the island to say goodbye to the girls

Here he is giving them a hand

Mugan is riding shotgun!

A peaceful picture of Georgette

We have another camera lady in the group!

The girls in 2009

Sue ... Mugan

Georgette...Janette...Donna Mae

Enjoying the afternoon

Recording in the book

Checking  out the photo album

Looks like they are having

a Bloody Mary drink!

The inside of the cottage has changed again

Joe has built bookshelves

At this point in time our home was up for sale

so we were decluttering and bringing as much as we could over to the cottage

Joe built a new kitchen table

2011

The cottage has changed once again

This is now our summer home

Here we are

All smiles

What can I say?

Johnny Cash ended one of his songs by saying

I HAD A BALL

We all had a ball!!!!!!!!!

and

We plan to keep on rolling!!!!!!!!!