My Kind of Town Chicago

Well, I survived a trip to Chicago and LaPorte with Dad. We flew there and met up with bro Andy and his wife and some of the relatives for a Cubs game and dinner at Morton's. Then, I drove Dad to LaPorte, Indiana to visit Grandma. Grandma turned 99 in March and is still going strong. She is a little confused sometimes....but heck, so am I. The Cubs even did us a rare treat and won the game...they were playing the Nationals, so no big victory. Here are some pictures:

Dad doesn't travel well, so it was good to get him out there to visit his mom, allbeit for a short visit. I even got to meet the first living fourth generation of Grandma's family, my third cousin. He is pictured here. His dad is my second cousin Steven (Pam's son). The local paper did a story on the four generations living in LaPorte starting with the aforementioned greatest grandma in the world (Bess Reeder). I also got to see Richie, my second cousin. I hadn't seen him since he was a baby. I got to see my cousins too...but they aren't cute kids so their pictures don't get posted. Not pictured are my cousin Lisa's girls (2nd cuz's katelin and Danielle). I will post thier pics later.

I have contractors working at the house, making room for Dad. I still want to buy a bigger house, but now is not the time to sell or rent. I'll let things settle for a while. Meantime, we are all trying to get along...everyone knows how patient I am. Dad is his usual grouchy self, but he has a lot to deal with so Susan and I cut him some slack. With his health issues and him missing mom so much, he has had a rough time. My parents really loved each other all 48 years of their marriage. That is rare these days. They used to joke that nobody would have either one of them and that they were stuck with each other....but the truth is, they really loved one another. Dad seems a bit lost without her.