Back to Reality

When I talked to my brother the night Marlene died, I told him we could pack up and come home right away.  He said, "Nothing will happen before you get back.  Just stay on Mackinac with the girls."
It's a weird thing to be on vacation when someone dies.  On the one hand, you are mourning the person.  On the other hand, you're on vacation.  We decided not to tell the girls until we returned home, so not only were we mourning, but we had to be happy because the girls didn't know that Aunt 'Lene died.
We spent one morning biking around Mackinac, an afternoon exploring in Fort Mackinac and time on the hotel's balcony playing with the giant chess set.  I'm not sure where they learned it, but the girls actually had a pretty good idea about how to play chess.
We had tea in the parlor, which might have been the highlight of their vacation.  They felt like Eloise at the Plaza.  The girls chatted endlessly about the fancy hotel room with the fancy beds. 
All the time I kept thinking about what I had to tell them.  They probably ate more fudge than I would have normally allowed and got away with a bit more than normal because I really wanted them to have good memories of the trip.  Knowing how bad the rest of the week was going to be, I really wanted the trip to be good. 
Now we are back and reality is setting in.  If I could close my eyes and wish my way back to the island, I would.  Instead we're bracing for tomorrow afternoon when we're going to tell the girls' that Aunt 'Lene isn't with us anymore.  I don't know if there's enough fudge on Mackinac Island to help us get through that conversation.