It Was a Good Weekend/Cut My Legs Off?
February 7, 2022
This past weekend we drove into the city and pretended we were tourists for the first time since we moved out of Chicago. The trip was planned and pretty much executed entirely by Rachel- again, find you a partner like her! The thought was to plan this trip as a good memory. We didn't know, and still don't fully know what is going to happen so flooding some happy memories in can't hurt either way.
I generally cringe at trips, plans and the like- could be anxiety or I could just be a grumpy old man in a not so young body. Back to the anxiety though: mask and vax mandates are all good and well IF they are enforced. Unfortunately that's a tough multi-faceted issue that is not easily solved and that was on display everywhere- the hotel, the MCA, Water Tower, the Hancock building, and more. Compound all that with being sick my brain went a million miles an hour on the anxiety rollercoaster. (Luckily I think that only lasted Friday night.... I hope). On a sidenote, if you can't tell I am a "liberal" and believe in the vaccine and mandates. If you disagree..... just, please don't, I have cancer? I get to pull that card right?
Anyways Friday night we settled in, took the kids to the lobby to get some candy, played a board game, and ordered Benihana's for dinner (there will be no Benihana slander allowed here). After dodging maskless people it was nice to be locked in our little fortress away from any (non-kid) stress.
Saturday was jam packed from the get go. We started the morning at the Hancock observatory where we all overcame our fears a little- me of the elevator and the kids of looking down and of not buying all the tourist swag around. After the Hancock we walked over to the Museum of Contemporary Art for some culture. The kids held up better than you would imagine in an art museum. By far their favorite exhibit was "the father who spends over $100 at the gift shop." After emptying my wallet for a tiny tiny bag of items at the MCA we picked up some lunch and headed for a pit stop back at the hotel where mom and dad could rest and recharge for the rest of the day.
Fast forward to the American Girl doll store/factory/machine? I think I had only cut through it before to get into Water Tower so I didn't know the power they yield. First stop was a visit to the salon to pierce ears and get hair and nails done (on dolls) and then to buy more accessories. Kudos to that place, they have taking your money down to a science- or multiple sciences. After a stop back at the hotel to drop off our children's children we headed to dinner. I should note here that everything we did was as COVID-safe as we could get, even dinner.
Dinner was at Osteria Via Stato where Rachel had booked us a private greenhouse to enjoy dinner and a glass of wine- the doctor said it was fine. While one kid ate only bread and another had really good pasta, Rachel and I kind of sensed that maybe we should tell them that dad has cancer. A staple of every family vacation should be telling your kids you have a life threatening illness. (For reference they are 6 and 9). The kids knew I was sick but we never said cancer around them so as not to scare them. We started by easing into the conversation and tried to take it as slow and gentle as possible. As I explained to them what it meant and how serious it was I started to get a little emotional. I talked about surgery and how I would have a large cut across my stomach. The kids, sympathetic as they are, started hysterically laughing as the 6 year old proclaimed that she thought I wouldn't have legs anymore. I don't know why she thought they would chop my legs off or more importantly why she thought that was the funniest thing she ever heard but it definitely brought some much needed relief into the space. After some laughs mixed with a tear or two we headed back for the night.
We concluded the weekend Sunday morning with some room service (GrubHub) for breakfast and headed home. It was a much needed weekend that helped take the sting out of cancer for a little bit.
Some notes after reflecting on the weekend:
Guys if your partner plans a trip go along with it and be thankful. It is always worth it.
Get adjoining rooms if you can, even if just to put the kids in the middle of the space to dampen the yelling.
Do the things your wife and kids want to do, and apologize for complaining about it initially.
If I die from cancer, I want my kids to smile and be happy so I guess cut my legs off?