We are Joined by my Mother-In-Law

As I mentioned in the last post, my mother-in-law was just diagnosed with lung cancer. We spent a lot of time in treatment and radiation therapy. It seemed that she had just about given up on life and had no drive or dedication to do anything. It was at this time we decided to try something different. We were in the process of trying to fix the original crack in the outdoor pool. This is the one I spoke of earlier. The pool was 20 foot by 40 foot long and they had poured concrete on all sides of the pool. Just sealing the crack did not fix the problem as we also found busted water pipes under the concrete. The pool was a diving pool (4 foot depth one end 10 ½ foot deep in the diving end ) we decided we had to remove all the concrete around the pool to fix the leaks into the basement. We gave my mother-in-law the opportunity to help with the destruction and new construction of the floor around the pool. She enjoyed getting outside and helping with the work. We brought in a jack hammer and busted up all the concrete around the pool. We then had to locate the broken pipes and repair these to stop the leaks. This had given her a reason to get out of bed each day. The prospect of being useful and needed gave her a new renewed energy. This lady that was having treatments for lung cancer with radiation and chemo therapy was difficult to keep up with. My wife and I decided to take this a step further and enclose the pool so it could be used year round. My mother-in-law helped me on the days my wife worked over at the hospital. Working together drew my wife and her mother closer together than they had ever been since my wife’s birth. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of work in the following 3 years it took to build this structure. This was definitely a spare time project that took a lot of spare time to complete. The pool that had the crack could not be fixed so it would not leak. We took that concrete pool and filled it with sand with the help of our 4 year old grandson and several others. We made the depth a uniform 5 feet. We then raised the outside by 2 concrete blocks and tied in new wooden plate frame. We had a special vinyl liner manufactured to fit the new measurements of the pool. This stopped the leaks into the basement. We then put up the walls and windows. We installed 16, 4 foot by 6 foot windows around the walls and two sets of 8 foot sliding doors for entrance from outside. The room measured a total of 48 feet wide by 98 feet long. This was a lot of extra work, but we got to spend a lot of family time together and we got to enjoy our grandchildren in their young years as they grow and learn.

The picture shown is only one of many from this part of the home. This picture will show some of the blood, sweat and tears that went into this.