What I'll Miss About Chicago

My time as a resident of Illinois is rapidly evaporating. The next week will be a little crazy, as Joy moves to Ohio while I'm on a wilderness therapy trip in Wisconsin. As would be expected, there are things we are excited about in moving and also things which cause us to pause and be grateful for these years in the suburbs of Chicago. Here are the top five things I shall miss about moving away, and in my next post I'll focus on what I am most excited about in moving. Here we go...

5) The City of Chicago. I want it to be known that I really like Chicago. While there is so much in the city itself that I have not yet explored, I love having the city nearby for excursions and events. We enjoyed the First Annual Looptopia, the Lyric Opera, and several Cubs games at Wrigley. We walked along the lake each summer and Michigan Avenue each Christmas. When visitors come in from the country, we like going to places like Shedd Aquarium and the Art Institute, and even checked out Frank Lloyd's Wright home with my parents. "Wicked" was wickedly fun, there is bliss in the madness of the Fourth of July (although I am not as much a fan of The Taste of Chicago), and many restaurants have fed me particularly well. And everyone knows it's just plain fun to try doing triple-toe-loops while ice skating in Millennium Park.

4). Life on the Vine. This is our church, and while it took us more time than we anticipated to settle into a church after getting married, we've really come to find community here. Particularly, we will miss what our church calls House Gathering, when a small group of people come together to live life together. We would meet each Thursday night, share a meal, and discuss and challenge each other in what it means to live an intentional life focused on sharing Christ with others in jobs and school. We would pray together, share joys and challenges, and, perhaps most frequently, laugh. This group of people have become so special to Joy and me, and it's hard to imagine what our Thursday nights will look like without them. Nonetheless, we are thankful for these relationships and the impact they have made.

3) Joe Caputo's. Joe Caputo's is our grocery store of choice. And it should be noted that finding a grocery store can be a difficult task. (I know what you're already thinking: "He's gonna miss his grocery store more than he misses his church?!") While Caputo's may not always have the selection in some items that a larger store does, they simply cannot be beat when it comes to their produce and deli. Not only are they much cheaper, but their selection is expansive and eclectic. As an International Fruit Market, they bring in produce for any variety of ethnic dishes. We would try new fruits and vegetables, while some we simply enjoyed looking at up close, not knowing exactly what this or that was or how to prepare it for digestion. Where in Ohio will I go when I need some real Italian prosciutto or pancetta? What other store will we love so much that we actually take out-of-state guests there when they come to visit so we can show them our favorite place to shop? What store will have aisles dedicated to Lithuanian, Filipino, or Croatian products? I have no idea what a Lithuanian meal might look like, but at least I know where I'd go if I ever decided to find out. 

2) The Wightmans. Of course we will miss all of our family and friends who live in the Chicago area. The Bellitos are dearly loved and are part of a support system we've come to know and appreciate, although immediate family is usually expected to play a pivotal role in one's personal life.  You don't necessarily expect an entire family of strangers to sweep in and claim you as their own. Indeed, the Wightmans, as I've blogged about before, hold a special place in my heart. This is the family that took me in when I was penniless and destitute (as many graduate students are), and gave me so much more than a roof and a bed. I really have come to see the Wightmans as my very own family in Chicago. Roger and Gale love me as parents love their children (and, in fact, have introduced me to their friends as one of their own), and I relish the time I get to spend with Ellen and Khalia, as well as Sean, Alice, and Tyler. Joy and I were able to have dinner with the family a few weeks ago, and I was caught off guard at the emotions I felt when we drove away. I hadn't expected to get very affective, but as we left sweet Leon Lane, I knew that I was driving away from one of the clearest blessings in my life during these past three years. I've taken a picture of the plate they made and gave to Joy and me at dinner, and it's positively one of the most thoughtful gifts I've been given. There is the Chicago skyline with the entire Wightman family playing on the beach. And Stephen and Joy and Colby are all there too. 

1) County Glen Apartments. The truth is that no matter where we go or where we ever end up living, Country Glen Apartments will always be our first home. As every young married couple should, we have countless stories about living in a mid-grade apartment complex, complete with pot-smoking neighbors, broken toilets, and silly signs from the management ("The garbage disposal is no longer intended for food"). I've pounded on the ceiling to get the OCD neighbor to stop vacuuming at 3am the night before an exam, and I've called the police 3 times for various reasons. We got renter's insurance after the woman upstairs threatened our lives, and we observed in horror the dog across the hallway using the balcony for its defecating needs because the owners wouldn't take it down the stairs and outside. And let's not forget that it was in Country Glen that I found out I had tuberculosis! (Some might say that Country Glen is where I contracted tuberculosis, but that is yet to be definitively confirmed.) But what I will remember the most are the countless good memories that Joy and I have from Apartment C.  It was special to decorate our apartment for our very first Christmas together, and then there were the monthly Friday nights when we would take our mattress from the bedroom and put it on the floor in the living room, watching TV and eating popcorn late into the night. We even did this on a few Saturdays, celebrating Over the Rhine's song, "Let's Spend the Day in Bed." Sure, we'll be able to do all of these things in Ohio or anywhere else we live, but nothing will ever be the same as Country Glen. While we're glad to move on, the Thirty Month Lease will long be remembered with fondness.