Chicago is family & fun.

The main attraction in Chicagoland is not the Art Institute or the Field Museum. It is not da White Sox vs. the Cubs, or architectural wonders, or Michigan Avenue. For me, visiting Chicagoland means enjoying the love and the current snapshot-happenings of my sister, Pat, Kevin, Kent, Lauren & Cara. Ann was in town, too, making the group lots of fun.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed tremendously the other aspects of being in town, but I would have visited even if they lived in the emptiest place in the world. That we could take advantage of some highlights from a great city was merely berries on some sort of magnificent semi-fredo.

Our tickets at the Sox – Cubs rubber match was just 4 or 5 rows behind Cubs dugout, close enough to hear Giovany Soto greet Sox fans with heartfelt “F*** off.” It was late in the game, the Cubs played awfully, and Sox fans enjoyed seeing his pain. Giovany could not have provided more inspiration to Sox fans or made them feel better than to hear verbal confirmation that their rival had been beaten up emotionally as well as on the scoreboard. As the Sox crowd poured down the stadium ramps, they sang with joy.

Game Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39474118@N06/sets/72157620578074111/

Video: Last Pitch, fireworks & song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm-VMQ2ODN4

Ten months ago, A’ pushed me in a wheel chair around the Art Institute of Chicago. This year, I walked around on my own two feet, able to see eye-to-eye with Vincent. Pat, Lorie, Ann and I then walked through Millenium Park to marvel at the kid’s fountain and “The Bean.” For people with the eye of photographers, such as Pat and Ann, it was a special treat to see how the large mirror “jelly bean” creates interesting views of people, skylines, and sky in odd juxapositions, distorted enough to catch one’s eyes.

On to Kent’s new apartment one block from the Trump Tower. 20-something and living downtown. . . . sounds like fun, despite lacking income as he continues his schooling.

Kevin and Lauren are leading the hyperactive lives of young professionals working two careers separately as they build a third together and manage to keep even busier with friends & family.

Pat’s eye-popping photos from his travels around the world inspire, as does his patience with the relative chaos that seems to swirl around their home.

And Lorie remains Lorie, thank God.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39474118@N06/sets/72157620678057853/