michigan | shirley

It was a sad first couple of days with Shirley. Grandma Colby passed away a couple of days before we got there and Grandpa Colby is quite ill also.

On Sunday we attended Grandma's visitation which I guess is like our viewing but instead of the funeral being straight afterwards, it was a period of time where you could go to the funeral home, say your goodbyes to Grandma, view all of the photo boards that were created and pass on your condolences to the family.  The funeral wasn't until the next day.  

Shirley had decided that she wasn't going to attend her Mom's funeral but instead would visit with Grandpa at the time the funeral was on so that he had company.  Grandpa was in the hospital and unable to attend.  Glen and I decided that we also wouldn't go to the funeral so we attended the visitation with Shirley on Sunday.

Unfortunately it ended up being the only chance we got to catch up with some people but it was understandable given the circumstances.

On Monday, Glen and I went to Cedar Springs so that I could catch up with a couple of friends from school - Rose and Deb.  Deb has hosted four exchange students in the past 2 years so it was interesting to hear her stories about that.  And Rose looks exactly the same as she did 25 years ago!  I also got to meet Rose's daughter Cheyenne.

On the way back we decided to go to Avis and get a new car.  The first one had a warning light and although we decided it was just telling us that a service was due soon, the car had started to run a bit roughly.  We're so glad we did.  We ended up with a Chevrolet Malibu - sun roof, compass, seat warmers, electronic everything, leather seats - very, very nice car.

On Tuesday Glen and I headed up to the Sault Ste. Marie and Mackinac Island with Krista and her sons Gavan and Luka as well as Melissa and her two boys Colby and Atticus.  Shirley decided to stay home in case something happened to Grandpa while we were away.

I remember finding the Sault Ste. Marie locks really interesting when I was 16 but no one could understand why we were going because it was so boring so I was slightly concerned that we would make the trek up there and Glen would be less than impressed.  But, we were lucky enough to have a ship pass through the locks while we were there.  I'd guess it was about 2 degrees with and icy wind so it wasn't very pleasant.  It was a quick trip.  

We almost got ourselves another new car on the trip up there.  Glen pressed the unlock button and we opened the doors of the car and almost got in before we both said 'is this our car'...ah no, it wasn't.  Oops!  Who leaves their car unlocked!?!?!  We hightailed it to the right car and took off hoping no one had seen us though Glen is sure a lady walked in and got into that car just as we were leaving in ours.

We headed back to St. Ignace where we stayed the night before heading to Mackinac Island the next day.  Its about a 20 minute boat ride across to the island and we had really good weather for the whole time we were there.  The island has some history and they have continued to ban cars on the island so the only way around is foot or horse and buggy.  The houses have been preserved also so its quite a pretty place.

We also managed a night out at Lake Michigan with Shirley to see the sunset.  Both Glen and I struggled to accept that its not salt water I think because its just so big and the beaches are all sandy and there are waves and, and...

It was hard to say goodbye to Shirley after really only a couple of days with her because of all that was going on but we'll cherish what time we did have.  I fell in love with one of the kids that Shirley cares for but in a true case of unrequited love, he took to Glen more than he did me!!

Mechelle