Feels like home to me.

We were happy that Cass & Malcolm wanted to meet at MoJo's, since it was so near our old neigh-
borhood.

After we said goodbye to them, we walked north, up Oakley to Alexander Graham Bell School. (We didn't take any pictures on this walk. But recently, Cam rescued some, from the spring before we moved, off our old computer. I'll use those for this post.)

Sam finished third and fourth grade at Bell and I worked there, as an individual aide for a fifth grade boy who has Autism, the year before we moved to California.

Lots of memories.

Reminiscing.




But I was distracted. I still hadn't heard back from our dear friends, the Erenbergs. We weren't going to be in Chicago too long and weren't able to fit in real visits with everyone we wanted to see. But, in an attempt to at least see some of our friends, I had sent out a message saying, we are planning to do this activity on this day at this time. Asking them to let us know if they were interested in and able to meet up.

I'd sent a second message to Eileen, the night before, saying we were going to be in the old neighborhood and would love to see them but I hadn't heard from her.

Finally, when we were at Sam's school, just blocks away, I called and she picked up the phone. She hadn't been checking her work email account during the holidays and didn't have any idea we were coming to town. She was excited to hear from us and wanted to connect.

I wish they'd have been able to just run out the door and up the street to play with us in the snow at Sam's school yard but she said Luke had a bit of a fever. It didn't sound too bad since they were still planning to go ice skating that afternoon.

We were supposed to meet some other friends shortly to grab lunch and head to the Lincoln Park Zoo. If they couldn't join us, we didn't really have time for a visit but we couldn't be this close to them and not stop by for a hug. We decided to go to them.

I felt bad that I had been on the phone the whole time we were at the school and had missed a chance to play in the snow with Sam. But if we wanted to see our friends, we had to keep moving. So, we left the schoolyard and walked east on Waveland.

So many times on this trip, it felt like we were going home.

We love Chicago. It was a wonderful place for us.

It is where we met Cam and the three of us became a family.







It is where we shared our first home. We had many amazing adventures and made fond memories exploring the city together. We have dear family and friends there still. Walking up Waveland, a walk taken hundreds of times, seemed especially familiar.

When we got to our old place at 2020 W. Waveland, the blinds I'd purchased and hung, the spring before we moved, were still hanging in the window. The paint and spackle Sam and I applied that February was probably still on the walls.

I was surprised to see my wind chime still hanging from the porch ceiling. Cam reminded me that the hose, on the side of the house, was one I'd bought to water the flowers I'd planted. It still seemed like our place.

And across the street, out their front door, the Erenbergs were coming, smiling and waving.

It felt like we were home.

See the entire Flickr set of our last spring at 2020 W. Waveland.