
In mid-May, my family got to celebrate this guy! Yes! He got hired as a character actor as a new grad at parties so we decided to support his career decision! Or…he graduated from law school! Hooray! What did I do during the pandemic? I’m not sure but this guy decided to apply to law school, did incredibly well, and is now setting up for a career in criminal defense!

My brother is also a new Dad and his son is adorable. He also has a great personality meaning he sleeps 22 hours a day and when he’s awake, he’s just so inquisitive and cute! So, even though my brother’s graduation folder was actually empty rather than containing a certificate, seeing my cute nephew was another great reason to see Chicago! [And yes, the folder was empty but that’s because the school was holding onto everyone’s for some administrative reason. Still scrambling? Library overdues? Who knows.]

SMS and I landed on Saturday and took a rideshare to meet my family downtown. Where do you eat in a city known for food? The Cheesecake Factory! Haha, I am such a snob. Actually, it was a great place to meet because it was so easy to get a large table for our group. That wouldn’t have happened at The Purple Pig!

That evening, we hung out at my brother and sister-in-law’s apartment. SMS and I brought over chips, dip, and margaritas from Flaco’s Tacos, which are my favorite. They were delicious and followed by a late Uber Eats order of Papa John’s. Clearly, we’re a bunch of real health nuts.

The next day was Mother’s Day. It was a big day for the group! My Mom had all her (adult) kids around, my SIL had her first mother day, and two of my siblings had really gracious spouses who had stayed back with their kids to let the quick weekend trip happen but resulted in an unconventional Mother’s Day. We went out to brunch, which was really nice. Another big table, good food, a nice waiter, and another great time!

After brunch, we went to Millennium Park to sightsee and bide our time before we needed to go to the graduation. Then it was time to go to the graduation venue. We were so excited to cheer on the graduate!



Ed and I had been talking about being on the Jumbotron at low-attendance baseball games. He had been passed over at the game he attended, probably because he was being a grade A heckler. So, I tried to capture him on the Jumbotron at graduation but it cut away from him every.single.time. I tried to capture the image. Yes, I was really paying attention to what mattered at graduation. Don’t worry, we all cheered when his name was called. I didn’t miss that!


My parents left shortly after graduation. SMS and I stayed for another night. The next day, we met up for breakfast with Ed. We went to the Museum of Surgery, but Ed got called into the office and had to ditch us. We walked him back to his car and went back to the museum. Good thing we did because I ran into my medical school second year lab mate! So amazingly random! Neither of us had any idea the other was in Chicago. She was coming from Spain so to meet up was really pretty fantastic. I texted a mutual surgeon friend about the amazing coincidence and his response was, “You’re at the Museum of Surgery on vacation? What a nerd!” So, you know. Different takes on the same situation.

After the museum, it was time to head to the airport. We took the subway since the traffic was pretty bad out to the airport due to construction. Our flight went smoothly and then we were back for another workweek. Although the trip was brief, it was so special to see everyone again and to celebrate such an important life event!