Family Ties
When it comes to my sister and her husband, Chicago is cursed.
In January, they were planning on coming but the Tuesday before they arrived, my brother-in-law’s father passed away. This obviously necessatated a delay, so they were able to reschedule to this past weekend (in between all of my various business trips, plus holidays and other various engagements). The weather was supposed to be perfect: sunny, warm, the first real spring day in Chicago this year. (Spring in Chicago is wonderful. Of course, it usually lasts all of 3 weeks, crammed in between 5 1/2 months of Arctic-like winter and 6 months of Amazon-like summer.)
Of course, it rained most of Saturday and Sunday. And at about 3 on Saturday afternoon, the winds shifted and started coming off the lake, the temperature plummeted about 20 degrees instantaneously. (This is sort of funny. At the moment this happened, the five of us — Kristen, my sister Rachel, her husband Michael, Henry, and I were sitting having some ice cream at the zoo when we all started shivering. Rachel asked if someone had opened a door to the penguin house.)
And then, to top it all off, I get a call from Michael when they were waiting to board the plane to go back home (2 hours delayed, naturally). His next-door neighbor had just called him to say that the house just three doors down was on fire and that every building on the block was in jeopardy. I got online to check out whether it was in danger of spreading to their place (where their cats were, I’m sure, fast asleep). Luckily for them, the fire department (several, actually, from all around the Lehigh Valley) was able to put out the fire, but not before it destroyed 4 houses (2 sets of twin homes).
Frankly, I don’t think they’ll ever return, lest they wish a plague of locusts to decend upon us all and wipe out humanity (if the swine flu doesn’t do so first).
But while they were here — and in between disasters — we all had a terrific time. Henry took to them like a fish to water, and his aunt and uncle were equally smitten. (But, really, can you blame them?) We had several great meals (steak, hot dogs, and an eclectic mix of all types of seafood — not at the same time, of course) and a fun stroll around the Lincoln Park Zoo and the nearby Nature Conservatory.
I was also informed that Rachel prefers Kristen’s posts to mine as she thought I rambled on too much. Just for that, sis, I’m going to be extra long-winded for the next two weeks and the photos of Henry (which is really all that you people care about) will be imbedded into hidden links, forcing you to read and run your cursor over every word, letter by excruciating letter.
You see, this is how we show our love in my family. Through tedium. (Come back soon. Honest.)
