It was a bright, sunny day in late August. Caroline and her daughters had just finished museum hopping and were about to head over to Lou Malnati’s for some pizza. She insisted they stop at the beach along Lake Shore Drive first.
They’d gotten to the city ahead of time. The Democratic National Convention was set to start in a few days but she wanted to show her daughters all the things she loved growing up. At times she regretted not taking them to Chicago more often but their lives had gotten complicated and her parents had been more than happy to visit them in Maryland. Caroline hadn’t wanted to admit how much she ached for home. The extra time in the city made her significantly less apprehensive about giving her keynote address to a national audience in a few days.
“I’m glad we came here early,” Marguerite said, kicking her way down the sand.
“Yeah,” Sophie exclaimed. “This is really cool.”
“I’m glad too,” Caroline said. “Do you like having your own room at The Drake?”
“I have to share with Mo,” she grumbled.
“That’s still pretty cool, right? It’s almost like you’re totally unsupervised.”
“You’re next door to us, mom,” Marguerite pointed out.
Sophie giggled. “The TV is huge. Did you know there’s free soda in the fridge?”
“Don’t drink it,” Caroline said quickly. “It costs like twenty dollars a bottle.”
“Isn’t some fancy PAC paying your way?” Marguerite asked.
Caroline shook her head. The money aspect of politics drove her crazy. Jen and Katie had coordinated all the details of their trip. “I have no idea. Let’s err on the side of no. Especially for the few days we’re here before the convention starts.”
Marguerite took her mother’s hand. “Are you nervous about your speech?”
“A little,” Caroline admitted. “But it’ll be fine.” She let her eyes drift down Lake Shore Drive. “It’s good to be home.”
“I liked shopping at Macy’s yesterday,” Sophie said. “It was way better than the Macy’s at home.”
“It’s Marshall Field’s,” Caroline corrected.
“It said Macy’s on the door.”
“Marshall Field’s,” she insisted.
Marguerite laughed. “Let mom have her memories, Soph.”
“Mommy doesn’t know how to read,” Sophie said.
“Mommy knows the truth,” Caroline said. “Someday you will too.”
Sophie laughed. “Whatever.”
There was no point in arguing. She’d have to take the girls back to State Street and show Sophie the name plaque on the side of the building. “Did you guys like the Museum of Science and Industry?”
“Those fetuses in jars were pretty impressive,” Marguerite said. “Was that your favorite part?”
Caroline laughed. “My best friend from college and I used to love going to that exhibit. Being there feels a little different now that I have the two of you.”
“When was the last time you did all this stuff?” Sophie asked.
“It’s been a while. Not since your father and I came here a long time ago. We should have visited more often. I know grandma and grandpa would have appreciated it.” She swallowed hard. “I miss this place an awful lot.”
They kept walking until Caroline spotted a tiny lighthouse in the distance and stopped. She took Sophie’s hand and put an arm around Marguerite.
“This is where daddy asked me to marry him,” she said softly.
Marguerite leaned in for a full hug. “Really?”
“He was going to propose in front of the fetuses but reconsidered after we drove past this beach on the way to the museum.”
Marguerite laughed. “Daddy was silly sometimes.”
Caroline pulled her closer. “He sure was.”
Sophie tugged on her mother’s hand. “I want a hug too, mommy.”
Caroline looked out toward the lighthouse, keeping her arms around both her daughters. “That day was perfect,” she whispered. “Absolutely perfect.”
“Tell us about it,” Marguerite said.
“We were staying with grandma and grandpa. Daddy thought it would be polite to ask them for my hand. Once he had that out of the way he knew he wanted to do it before we left Chicago.”
Marguerite laughed. “He asked grandma and grandpa for permission? Did he, like, even know you before he proposed?”
Caroline laughed too. “I know, I know. He thought it was the respectful thing to do.”
“He knew he was marrying a feminist, right?”
Caroline kissed the side of Marguerite’s head. “Yup. I breathed my fire and threw my man-hating germs all over him and he asked anyway.”
“I want to hear more,” Sophie said.
She’d tell them anything they wanted to hear. She loved this story. She wondered why she’d never told them before now. “We’d gone to the Shedd and the Field Museum the day before. He was planning on taking me to a Cubs game later in the week but didn’t want to wait until then. After we were done at the Museum of Science and Industry, he demanded that he be the one to drive back to my parents’ house. Only he pretended to be really hungry and insisted we take a break and sit on the beach and have a snack before hitting the highway. It was really late in the season so it wasn’t very crowded. So we sat on a blanket randomly chatting, and before I knew it he was offering me an orange in one hand and a ring in the other.” Caroline laughed again. “I actually was starving, so I took the orange first. I think he was a little offended by that.”
“But you said yes, right?” Sophie asked.
“Of course I did.”
Marguerite laughed. “Obviously, Soph. Think we’d be here otherwise?”
Caroline kissed Sophie’s forehead. Her girls had been so brave over the past year, even while she had struggled. It had only been a few months and the pain didn’t seem to be subsiding, but reminiscing helped cheer her up. “I’m glad I could share this with the two of you. I miss daddy. A lot.”
Marguerite wiped her eyes. “He’d be really proud of you, mom.”
“I know.” Caroline took a deep breath. “Are we going to go get pizza or what?”
Sophie squeezed her mother tighter. “Can we stay here for a few minutes? I want to watch the seagulls.”
Caroline smiled. “Sure. But then we’re going to eat.”