The Day We Built a Treehouse

For three weekends in May, my brother and I built a treehouse for our kids in the old maple in his backyard. We had no plans, no experience and very questionable tools.

There were a lot of arguments about angles. Our wives brought sandwiches and laughed at us from lawn chairs. The kids supervised from below, demanding a trapdoor, a flag, a rope ladder, and "a room for snacks."

When we finally finished, it leaned a little to the left. It was perfect. The kids moved in immediately with blankets, flashlights and a walkie-talkie set, and refused to come down for dinner.

My brother and I sat under the tree drinking cold sodas, covered in sawdust and splinters, listening to them giggle above us. We haven't spent that much time together since we were kids ourselves. I think we might have built the treehouse for us, too.