Sweet Home Chicago - Family, Friends, & Hotdogs
There is nothing like coming home—coming home to people who love you, to places that are familiar, and to forty years of memories.
As we boarded our flight home, I felt such excitement knowing our family would be waiting to greet us at Chicago O’Hare Airport.
Sister and President Quinn on plane header to Chicago O’hare Airport - Coming home!
We have loved living in Naperville since 1986. We moved here when I was eight months pregnant with our second child, Melissa. From the very beginning, we found friends in the Naperville 1st Ward, and those friendships have blessed our lives for nearly forty years.
When we arrived at O’Hare, all of our children and their families were there waiting with banners, smiles, and hugs. What a wonderful homecoming!
Our first stop, of course, was Portillo’s in Naperville for authentic Chicago hot dogs—the famous Chicago Dog with everything on it except ketchup! Onions, peppers, pickles, tomatoes… And they gave us their famous chocolate cake as a welcome home gift. A favorite treat of our family’s! It was the perfect welcome home!
After dinner, we checked into the Renaissance Hotel, where our entire family stayed for the weekend. We had brought California gifts for our twenty grandchildren, including “Bigfoot” socks, red crab hair claws, shell hair accessories, and reunion sweatshirts for everyone. It was so much fun watching them get excited about their surprises.
On Saturday, we enjoyed a leisurely walk along the beautiful Naperville Riverwalk, went and saw some of our former homes, and spent time playing together at a park. That evening, we hosted a pizza party for many of our returned missionaries at the Judds’ home. Seeing so many of these wonderful young men and women again filled our hearts with joy. CASRM missionaries are so good about supporting each other. (More photos coming)
Sunday was our mission report. I was a little nervous speaking in front of so many family members, friends, and missionaries, with many others joining us on Zoom. Later I learned that more than 87 people had joined online. We felt so loved and supported. ( I am going to attached our talks to the bottom of this post.)
That evening, we gathered for an open house at the Caines’ home. It was such a blessing to reconnect with dear friends who stopped by to visit. At one point, I took a photo with several close friends, and it reminded me of the beautiful song You Can’t Make Old Friends, recorded by Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. Those friendships are priceless. These friends know my history. They remember when my children were babies, and we all “grew up” together as young mothers. Time has changed us, but it has only deepened the love we share. (more photos coming)
Tomorrow we begin the next chapter of our homecoming—a week-long family reunion. We’ll spend the day in Chicago enjoying one of my favorite experiences, the Architectural Boat Tour on the Chicago River, before heading to an Airbnb in Michigan City, Indiana. We’ll spend five days at George Washington Park, where our family made so many treasured summer memories riding WaveRunners on Lake Michigan and enjoying the white sand beach there. We spent many long days at this beach while our children were growing up.
Home truly is more than a place. It is a feeling of love and belonging that you just can’t get anywhere else!
