39 Years and Counting

I just got back from a trip to Chicago for a reunion with my freshman roommates from college. We met each other 39 years ago (I still can’t believe it’s been that long!) and have stayed close ever since. We try to get together every five or so years. In the past we’ve always met up in California where we are all from, but this year we headed to Chicago where Diane lives. It was a fantastic adventure! We are all now at the point where our kids are grown, one of us is even retired, so it’s a very different stage in our lives from the last time we got together pre-pandemic.

I started the trip on a 6 AM flight from San Francisco with Stacy, one of my roommates who lives in the East Bay. Funny enough we both ended up getting to the airport really early but didn’t see each other until just before boarding time. I’m sure if we looked at the security videos we would see ourselves just missing each other as we did laps around the airport terminal, lol. We lucked out getting row to ourselves so we could just chat away. I think we were the only ones talking on the plane except for the babies, most other people were dozing because of the early flight, but we had a lot to catch up on. Diane picked us up at the airport and took us back to her place in Oak Park. She was such a trooper – she ended up doing three trips to Chicago airports that day – twice to Midway to get those of us from the Bay Area and once to O’Hare to pick up Margie from LA. The flights were spaced out well though so she was able to hang out in between and catch up with everyone who was there. 

Us California kids were not used to the humidity of the Midwest, even sitting out on Diane‘s deck at 11 PM we still felt hot. Though it was wonderful being in a place where there was so much green grass and lush flower and plant life, very different from how things look back at home. We ended up staying up late every night, catching up about kids, spouses, partners, life, work, menopause, mental health, etc. Diane’s dog, Rambo, loved having lots of people around.

We got out to see a really funny Second City show one day then went out to dinner at a place mean nearby where most of the food was fine, but I had the best burger I have ever had. I ended up sharing it and everyone agreed it was amazing. Another day we went down to an area on the Chicago River called the Wild Mile where we learned about the regenerative efforts that an organization called Urban River is making all along the Chicago River. Diane‘s daughter Eva is interning with the organization this summer in between her junior and senior years at Saint Andrews College in Scotland. She was an amazing docent telling us about the history of the Chicago River and all of the incredible work they are doing to create habitat to help revive native species. Her grant is specifically to provide education to adults and older adults since so much environmental education is focused on children and young adults. It was so impressive and Diane was definitely have having a proud mama moment. 

After that we headed to the Chicago Art Institute. I thought parking in San Francisco was expensive, but Chicago has it beat hands down – $39 for 1-3 hours! Luckily, Diane is a member at the art Institute and gets a heavy discount on parking. We didn’t end up for spending a lot of time there, but did check out a fascinating mural by Raqib Shaw called Paradise Lost and a new exhibit of Gustave Caillebotte’s paintings that was only open to members. It was very nice to go to an exhibit that wasn’t really crowded. We did a remake of a scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where he and his friends are at the Art Institute contemplating a painting. It was fun reliving that movie as we ended up passing by several iconic Chicago landmarks that were featured in the movie, including driving underneath the L. I also saw a couple of Georgia O’Keefe paintings and the iconic American Gothic. Afterwards, we took lots of pictures at the Bean and went to the native plant garden nearby. By then we were wiped out from the heat so headed back to Diane‘s.

We were treated to lightning shows a few nights and the magic of lightning bugs when we took evening strolls. I got out as often as I could to take walks around the neighborhood, either with the whole group or with Stacy, who is also an early riser like me. Diane‘s neighborhood has an abundance of free little libraries, and one dog stick library! Stacy and I both found some new books to read, to add to our huge stacks waiting to be read. We had our final dinner at a delicious restaurant nearby that served very strong margaritas. Margie left on a late flight on Sunday night as she had to work on Monday, unfortunately due to the weather her flight ended up being delayed and she didn’t get into LA until 1:30 in the morning! Luckily everything was pretty smooth when Stacy and I left the next afternoon and we had an uneventful flight back to San Francisco.

It was wonderful to get to spend time with my friends, to see that in many ways they are still very much the same as they were when we first met as 18 and 19 year olds in 1986. Margie is still very chatty, Diane concerned about making everyone feel comfortable, Stacy listening and observing, Angela was her usual quirky self. So glad I have people that I have known for so long that I can enjoy spending time with and talk about life‘s challenges and blessings. Here’s to another 39 years of friendship!