Visit to the Midwest

I am writing today as I wait for Andy to knock off of work for the day.  That’s always the best part of the day and it comes early since he is working on pacific time and his company works on central time.  It starts early too.  But he’s a morning bird so I think that works for him.  A few weeks ago we bought tickets to hear Metric in concert here, in Vancouver.  I normally would be overly excited for a concert night but today, not-so-much.

It’s Thursday and just last Sunday we returned from a whirlwind ten day trip through the Midwest.  Andy had to be in Lisle, IL  for a Company meeting for two days.  I wanted to tag along because hey, time in Chicago!  We flew into Chicago and visited friends on our first night.  They have a pretty amazing apartment overlooking Michigan Lake, but we were there for dinner and only were able to enjoy the night lights of the City from the balcony to the black.  And as a dear friend and avid sailor once told me, just remember that black is always water.  The second night we had a yummy steak dinner at the original Harry Carry steakhouse.  There was a game on and we sat at the bar and cheered along with the locals.  When the game ended we got to chatting with the bartender, an interesting guy.  He wants to open a bar that serves only piña coladas.  How great is that?  We told him to look into Playa del Carmen.  Maybe we will see him there someday.

On Sunday we rented a car and drove to Lisle.  On the way we visited some fun and interesting landmarks like Hemingway’s birth home and Frank Lloyd Wright's designs.  It was really quite extraordinary. It’s an easy under-an-hour drive so we arrived relaxed Sunday evening and Andy was fresh for work Monday morning.   After each day of meetings the team participated in company events like visiting a brewery and attending a Bulls game.  He really seemed to enjoy the time he spent there.  “A lot of good folks” was definitely one of the takeaways from this year’s meeting, like last.  And me?  Well, I found Naperville.  I didn’t know places like this existed.  It’s old town charm with upscale shopping.  I found my beloved LOFT store and bonded with the sweetest sales person like we were friends forever. On the day Andy’s work was completed we drove back to Chicago, in a  soft snow and took a flight to Detroit.

From the airport we rented a car and drove to visit Angie at the hospital.  Angie is Andy’s little sister and she had just been readmitted after a setback during her treatments.  You see, Angie is battling stage 4 cancer.  And when I say battling, I mean she is fighting with all her might and ability.  She is a young 42 year old woman.  Besides herself, she has a husband and three small children to fight for through all of the struggles and setbacks.  The next day she was able to return home and by the time we left her treatments had started again. We were so glad to be there to visit with her for an hour here and an hour there when she felt up to it. During our time there we witnessed the total support of her church and community.  It was truly unbelievable and inspiring.  Andy and I did a few small projects around the house that Angie wanted completed but had not been physically able to get to.  It was good for us to feel like we helped in some small way.  Although, I know inside there isn’t anything that we can really do that makes a real difference in Angie’s recovery except to love her.  As we pulled out of the driveway I waved goodbye and I cried.