Sweet Home Chicago

Living in the suburbs, I don’t get to downtown Chicago very often. But when I do, I always ask myself why don’t I go more often? You’re probably thinking what I’m thinking: traffic jams, outrageous parking fees, or homeless people asking for money. I may be partial, but I think I live near the coolest city in the world, regardless of her flaws. As soon as I see the skyline heading in to Chicago, there is an energy shift in my being. I get amped up and can’t wait to see what the city has to offer. Usually it is hours of people watching, dodging cabs and buses and lawyers and stockbrokers. As a visitor, I accept the metal screech of braking from the el train in the loop, and the indescribable nonstop hubbub of activity. If I have time, my personal favorite, is block after block of window-shopping (which I never tire of, if I have good shoes on). I can smell pizza and Chicago style hot dogs wafting through the air, along with a dusty scent of chocolate. That’s right, chocolate.

As kids, my parents put us on the train and sent us to Chicago. My jovial Grandmother Melley met us at Union Station ready to show us a good time. She and my aunt and uncle showed us the city during the daytime and in the nighttime. Have you ever seen Buckingham Fountain after sunset? When you’re 9 years old, it is magical. I was never scared. Gram took us to the zoo and all the museums. We’d ride the elevators of their high-rise buildings and build sandcastles at the beach while eating fried chicken, grapes, and oatmeal cookies. I had my first date with Rich at the Sears Tower (never to be called Willis Tower). Afterwards we went and had dessert at the Hyatt and had our first kiss walking back to our car. Chicago will always hold a special place in my heart.

Kevin came home this month. It had been a while. He brought his girlfriend Madison. It was a wonderful excuse to show her our favorite city. We went to all the typical tourist places. When you only have a few days, you hit the best hotdog stand, zoo, a couple of museums, Navy Pier, Gino’s Pizza, Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain, the Magnificent Mile, and rest your dogs by Segway-ing your way along LSD. And the weather was ideal. 

It was fun watching Kevin show Maddi his kind of town. They are in love and happy. I wanted to have them pause and take the moment in and remember it. One day they won’t be as starry-eyed as they are right now. They will have to work at their relationship: to take care of themselves and each other, learn to accept each other in Herculean ways, be intentional about having fun when they are tired, and find their way back to each other again because they forgot that love is pretty simple—love always returns when you put your heart into it. When they were up on the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier (in cart #30), I looked up and smiled as they went higher and higher above the city. It was a perfect evening. I was taking it in and hoping they were too. But in case they didn’t, here is a little YouTube video I made so they can remember sweet home Chicago. http://youtu.be/WACTiHpn0q8