Day 169 - The Last Day in Chicago

This is the last day. Consider this a tribute and a thank you note to my friends and the city of Chicago. I don't even know where to begin. So many people, so many amazing memories. I came to this city in March of 1999 with a shit job and little ambition. All I knew is that this is where I wanted to be. From that first day, when meeting Mark P, my random roommate with our mutual friend knows as The Gute, it was on. All of my boys from college lived here. Leah was here. Ags was here. So many others from my KU years and Clevelanders littered this Midwestern mecca. I fell in love with it right away. My first job was done and gone after a bad commute and 3 months. My first Saturday night I saw a bad Run DMC show at the Cubby Bear. I spent the summer cutting corned beef and turkey at the Southport Sandwich company and going to day games at Wrigley. Sheri was unemployed at the time and we sat in the bleachers one weekday afternoon and saw Sammy Sosa hit a walkoff HR to beat the Marlins. I can look back and smile at how I evolved. When I lived with the Gute and Mark P, we were still playing video games (Sega Golf, Coach K Hoops, and the classic Snowboarding game on N64), listening to tunes, and going out pretty much every weekend to trendy spots. It gradually became dive bars and usual spots. Ah the memories of that first apartment - Gute's ghetto hang, Bologna sandwiches, Tribe playoff games with Dave, parties in our apartment, the cone, FTG meals and fighting for the Soy, the VCR's, french doors, Leah's naps on the couch, the new years eve kitchen incident, and getting to know someone who would become one of my best friends. That first year was incredible - and there would be many more amazing years ahead.

Leah moving to the city and getting our first apartment together was another major life experience that Chicago had for me. I will never forget that place on Southport. A narrow 2 bedroom apartment which we realized about 3 months in that we would never be there more than a year. It also took me no time to realize that Leah was going to be the best roommate I ever had. The things I remember from that year were Sean becoming our weekend tenant in bedroom number two, KU games at Kincades, my first foray into high speed internet that spawned my obsession with downloading music from Napster, our front to front parking spaces, getting the phone call from Matt saying Lisa was pregnant with Jace, the worst new years eve ever at Kustom where Sean and I walked all the way home in 5 degree weather with no coats because there were no cabs to be found, and most importantly, asking Leah to marry me.

Our next move was to the Brewery lofts on Fletcher and Southport. We loved this place until we realized how badly were were getting ripped off. We spent the next three years here in a one bedroom with a loft. These were great years. I logged a lot of time on that rooftop deck overlooking what is the greatest skyline in America. So many great memories from those years. Getting married, my bachelor party at a Wrigley rooftop and Stanley's. Watching my beloved KU Jayhawks go to back to back Final Fours - having the crew over to watch us beat Illinois, then to watch the heartbreaking loss to Syracuse the next year in the championship game - all the while I had a hidden camera on the group for reaction shots. The Turkey reuben at Schubas which I probably had 50 times. Frank and Annie runs. My first big screen tv thanks to my aunts and uncles. The love for Lincoln Station and Gramercy. Heavy traveling for work beginning. Sunday Browns games over at The Goldstein's, E's, or Ags'. Thinking we would never be able to break our lease and get the condo that we always wanted.

The highest highs professionally and my lowest lows personally had me all over the board during the Roscoe and Wolcott condo years. Leah and I became homeowners, she continued to flourish with her career at Hewitt while doing that awful commute, and I stumbled into a new venture in my career at Prairie, which would turnout to be a blessing. Just after I began to work at Prairie, dad got sick and eventually lost his fight with cancer. Mom's breast cancer soon followed. Not too long after that, MD's marriage split up. It was as stressful as a 2 year period could ever be. We endured a lot while living here. On the bright side, we moved into a budding neighborhood with new things to explore. Again, so many classic events happened while we lived here. The 1056 freestyle night where my inner MC came out on display for everyone to see; weddings, weddings, and more weddings; more KU tournament losses that became harder and harder to swallow; Leah and I both turning 30 - the amazing surprise party she threw for me; Jessica and Justin moving to Chicago and growing closer and closer with them; Seeing our friends start to have children; Zella's, Salute, and Nick's Beer Garden with Dave and P - one of my best nights out ever; Big fights at K's; retro T-shirts; Puma sweatsuits; rainbow sandals; my obsession with the chicken gyro pita at Four Moon Tavern; summer walks to DQ; nights at the Kerrymen and the birth of Jaegerbombs; and last but not least - driving 6 hours each way to pick up our little Casey from the breeder in Iowa. Talk about a change in me.

I never knew I could become a dog person over night, but it happened. To say Leah and I love her a lot would be an understatement. She was born on a farm, but we raised her in the city. So many walks - do I take the Roscoe/Wolcott/Henderson route and get stuck talking to the old ladies on their front stoop, or do I take the Roscoe/Wolcott/Newport route and hope I don't see the white trash family? Casey loved her long walks to Southport where she was the center of attention to everyone drinking and eating outside. She hated the winter, just like we do, but nobody loved frolicking in the snow like she did.

But I digress. I can look back at our Chicago years with a smile and a tear. Last night was emotional for Leah as she said goodbye to her girlfriends one last time at the end of Jenny's wedding. It was very sad to think about all of the good times and years they have had as a group. It made me really start to think and soak this in. We are leaving pretty much all of our friends behind here to start our own journey. The future looks so good to me - I cannot wait to move into a house and hopefully raise my children in the environment and style that I was fortunate enough to blossom in. But Chicago - this city is the best in the country bar none. You can have New York with its overcrowded trash-filled streets and its attitude. I'll take Chicago. The Midwestern feel, the beautiful skyline, the lake, dives like the Four Moon Tavern and amazing upscale places like Joe's Stone Crab, Wrigley Field, the eclectic neighborhoods that are like different cities in themselves, summer street fairs, dog parks, and Hot Dogs.

This is really tough for me. I am going to miss my friends so much. So thank you all. For all of the years and all of the memories that you helped build. These were some of the best times of my life. Chicago will always hold a huge spot in my heart. All of you who live in Chicago - Thank you for all the memories, the support, and the love. I'm out....like Chicago.

Days Left in Chicago: 1
Song of the Day: "Thank You" by Dido