Chicagoland - 29 Sept to 3 Oct

There were two main themes of the trip to Chicagoland: 1. "Elmhurst College" and 2. "mommas." All-in-all we saw:

• 2 of our 3 mothers
• 1 of our 2 fathers
• 1 of our 2 brothers
• 1 of our 5 aunts
• 7 Elmhurst College graduates
  
• 1 Marion High School graduate
  
• 1 FYBC member
• 6 offspring from friends (ages 6 months to 9 years)
  
• 1 newly acquired friend (now married to an EC grad)
  

We spent our time:

• Opening gifts
• Listening to our mothers tell stories about our childhoods
• Celebrating a new marriage
• Celebrating a 45th wedding anniversary
• Celebrating a 28th birthday
  
• Catching up with college friends on pregnancy, birth, child-rearing, work, play, and life
• Absorbing loving energy from all
• Massaging my aching back

After 7 years of always having another trip on the horizon, this concludes my last scheduled trip. We talked about returning to Chicagoland next summer to show off Gilhooly, but nothing is planned. My respite from travel begins at the right time because the Southwests and JetBlues have successfully gutted the joy of travel from the airline industry. We used frequent flyer miles on the newly Chapter 11-fied Northwest and didn't get *any* love for the hundreds of thousands of miles I've flown with them over the last 7 years. Pillows, blankets, movies, and meals were not available and we had two layovers (Boise and Minneapolis). While the layovers gave me a much needed break from sitting, it made for 2 long days of travel and lots of wild kicking from Gilhooly on the descents - I felt bruised.

But, it was well worth the infusions of mom energy that I got from our own mothers, mothers that we met at the wedding, and our good friends who are mothers. I am so thankful for all of the love and support from all those folks who form our roots. Lots of love, hugs and kisses to all.