Liberty Lake, initially promoted as the "Inland Seashore," is about 18 miles east of downtown Spokane, Washington, near the Idaho border. In its heyday from 1910 to 1915, up to 14,000 people took the Inland Empire Railway to celebrate the Fourth of July festivities at the lake. Although it's only 4.4 miles in circumference, families especially appreciated the West side of the lake due to its long, shallow, and sandy beach. From 1909 until it burned down in 1962, adults enjoyed dancing at a pavilion built on a pier extending 200 feet over the water. It could accommodate 628 couples twirling on the smooth maple decking.

This pavilion is where my future father-in-law, Woody Weller, first met Ruth McDonald in 1940. The family story is that he audaciously told her on the dance floor: "I'm looking into the eyes of my future wife." Although Ruth initially felt turned off by his boasting, he proved to be a skilled dancer and soon won her over. They married a year later and had nine children, with two sets of twins. My husband, Mark, was the youngest in this large family of eight boys and one girl. Their family home, next to the campus of Gonzaga University, provided space to run around.

After living in Seattle for eleven years, Mark and I moved to Liberty Lake. The Community Colleges of Spokane hired me to manage a Head Start program serving low-income single mothers and their children while they attended classes. As a stay-at-home dad, Mark wanted to live closer to his extended family while raising our daughter and son and supporting his elderly parents. I was ready to leave the gray and rainy west side of Washington State. However, my one stipulation was that I wanted to live near the water.

Looking at the map, I noticed Liberty Lake was only 2.5 miles south of the I-90 Freeway. In 1990, we purchased a two-story, three-bedroom, 1.75-bath duplex with 1,750 square feet on each side for the same price of $96,000 that we sold our remodeled house in Seattle. However, our new home offered a partial view of Liberty Lake and a spacious backyard bordered by a private green space. The rental income from the other half of this side-by-side duplex helped to reduce our monthly living costs, allowing us to live on one income.

Buying the duplex was the best investment we ever made. It’s become our "forever" home. Even though we’re not lakefront, we enjoy a lake view from our living room and balcony. Across the street, there’s a unique .5-mile strip with deeded lake access and designated easements for those living on secondary lots to access the lake. A paved path alongside the lakefront offers a safe space for children to ride their bikes and for families to socialize with their neighbors. Until the lake freezes, we paddleboard and kayak as often as possible and store our recreational equipment in our access area.

The 4th of July continues to be a big community celebration. Our children regularly dressed in costumes to participate in the annual 4th of July parade in Alpine Shores, a few blocks away. Families decorate bikes, wagons, and golf carts to become imaginative floats and throw candy to the onlookers. Anyone can participate by just showing up. At 10 p.m., the fireworks begin from a barge in the middle of the lake. I love sitting on the beach and listening to the "Oohs and Aahs" as we join our neighbors in delighting in these colorful displays.
 
Mark remains busy using his professional remodeling skills to adapt the duplex to meet our changing needs. When our children wanted individual rooms, he turned half of the single-car garage into another bedroom. Later, he knocked down our bedroom wall to create a Master Bedroom with office space. Recently, Mark has begun "remodeling" his renovation projects. After our children left home, he reclaimed the full garage as his workshop area and used it to create an “aging in place” accommodation on the lower floor.

Until we needed it, we wondered how best to use the downstairs level. The Fig Tree, a Spokane ecumenical newspaper, described Pastor Kaprian helping to coordinate housing for Ukrainian refugees. I contacted him about refugees living with us downstairs. Within a few hours, he called me back. He shared that his niece, Angelina, and her husband, Alexander, had recently arrived via Mexico into the United States from Mariupol, Ukraine. She was four months pregnant with their first child and desperately seeking safe housing. We met them and agreed they could live downstairs for one year for free while they adjusted and found employment.

Since our refugee guests didn't speak English, we learned to communicate using Google Translate™. Our Liberty Lake neighbors also became involved in welcoming this young family. They dropped off baby clothes, toys, and supplies before their daughter, Adele, was born. Since Angelina and Alexander grew up near the Black Sea, living next to Liberty Lake reminded them of their former home. They enjoyed taking their daughter to put her feet into the lake.

After Alexander gained experience working a full-time job painting cars, he opened his own auto body shop. Angelina attended ESL classes online while caring for Adele. Since then, they’ve become self-sufficient and moved into their own apartment. They continue to visit and hang out on the beach. Angelina shared: "We were her first home in the U.S.A.”

I am grateful that Liberty Lake continues to be an excellent place to call home and that we welcomed this young refugee family to develop new roots within our community.

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REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. What does the concept of "home" mean to you? 

2. Where are the places or people that help you feel “at home" wherever you are?

3. How do you provide hospitality for those needing extra support?