1.13.2012

i left mikey and garrett [and many tears] behind and flew with heidi to chicago. we met heather when we got off the airplane and got in a limo to head downtown to the willis/sears tower. my parents were still coming back from lunch, so we went around the corner and grabbed lunch while we waited for holly to land and arrive. we finally got over to the sears tower to head up for my dad's retirement party, but we got caught. my parents had to come downstairs to catch another elevator to the party and my dad walked up in utter shock. he had no idea or suspicion that we were coming and he was very touched that we came. as soon as we found out he was retiring, there was not a moment that we weren't coming, but we wanted to surprise him. we joined the party and heard some wonderful speeches from people that he's worked with. it was such an honor to hear the things they had to say about my dad. really, they put on an amazing party for him - we were all impressed and touched. later on, we drug our luggage all over town in order to get to a greek restaurant and have a delicious dinner. then we caught the metra home and finally crashed a little after midnight. it was an amazing, delicious, exhausting and a little bit emotionally draining day.