Do you even know how cold 21 is?!?!?

We're sitting in our hotel room in Chicago. Just got back from dinner and the temperature outside is a balmy 21. Yup, 21. The little thingy on the car dashboard said so. When we landed at 12:15, it said 44. When we got out of the parking garage it dropped to 39. And then just kept dropping. There are actually people who live with this weather all the time! Amazing.

We had to leave home at 4:20am this morning to get to the airport. Parked the car in a Park 'n Fly place and got on the shuttle. When the shuttle arrived at the airport, the driver stopped and everyone just sat there. Looking ahead with glassy eyes. No one moved. It was like a Twilight Zone moment. Finally I just bolted out of my seat and the rest of the group followed. Very strange.

Driving in Chicago is interesting. This is definitely the land o' trucks. They're everywhere - big 18 wheelers. Everywhere. But we've been out here enough now to manage it. Ed is even getting adept at tossing coins into the little metal basket at the toll booth. In the beginning it would cost a buck or two trying to get 30 cents worth of coins to hit the basket. But his aim is improving.

My son gets in tonight, my sister tomorrow morning, and my daughter tomorrow afternoon. We're all going to have dinner together and prepare for Sunday. It feels so strange to be close to my dad's nursing home, and not be able to visit him. I'm expecting a lot of tears this weekend, but with the whole family together it should be a healing time. And a time of celebration.