By the time we had cleared everything, put away the leftovers and washed the dishes, Dad had his laptop out, checking his email I suppose. Mom and Aunt Marie took their coffees out to the porch, to join him. Colin and I checked in before tackling our new chores.

"There's a pile of collapsed boxes behind your father's stand-up tool chest," Mom said. "Help Colin load those up, and give him the black luggage set for packing."

Aunt Marie added, "Colin, I need you to neatly load everything in my tall dresser into the three large pieces of luggage, when you finish your stuff."

"Mom! Between my stuff and yours,...