I can still hear the “ding dong” alerting riders that the doors are about to close on the CTA train. I miss it already, even though just hours ago I was on my early morning train ride from downtown to the airport.
I sat tiredly in a daze on the Orange Line. I leaned against the window and looked back toward downtown—the buildings were dimly lit against the dusky mauve sky. I thought I’d realize my dreams in Chicago… and I guess in a sense I did, but I just didn’t think my time here would be so short. It was so, so short.
I made the decision to look back only once more. I turned my head and stared in awe at Willis Tower. I vividly remember sitting outside of what was then the Sears Tower as a 12-year-old, proudly holding my geography book as I posed for a photo to bring back to my seventh grade class as part of our “Where in the world has your geography book been?” project. And even now as a 31-year-old, that building never ceases to take my breath away, if only for a split second.
I passed Willis Tower every weekday morning as I walked from my South Loop apartment to Boeing’s world headquarters, and every evening as I returned home. I remember exactly how it looked at sunrise and sunset. I remember exactly how it looked in the rain and in the snow. I remember exactly how it looked in my “favorite light” (the golden hour) and exactly how it looked when clouds completely engulfed the structure from the tippy-top of its two antennas all the way down to the 80th or 90th floor.
I really love that building… and I’ll sure miss seeing and living within the Chicago skyline.
I was now about halfway to Midway Airport. I was loosely holding onto the luggage tag on my suitcase as I noticed it still showed my Chicago address. I then realized that our downtown St. Louis apartment will mark our eighth residence in eight years—Jeez Louise. But I’ve loved each and every place that my husband and I have together called home.
Before I knew it, we were pulling into Midway. It took me all of 20 minutes to get from my seat on the train to my seat at the gate, coffee in hand. After a last-minute flight change yesterday evening (from 6:50 tonight to 7:45 this morning) I was certain I’d get a boarding number in the C30-60 range, and was astounded to see A32 on my boarding pass. This told me two things, I’d get my coveted window seat and our flight would be really, really empty. Turns out we had a total of 45 passengers, meaning we had about 100 open seats and everybody got their OWN. ROW. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.
I hopped on board the pitifully empty Southwest 737-700, situated myself in seat A7, and waited for pushback. The MDW-STL flight has us airborne for a mere 45 minutes. Now for most folks… that’s awesome, but for me… I find myself wishing I had just a little more time in the sky. Once we hit our cruising altitude of 26,000 feet, we were up there for only 10 or so minutes before beginning our initial descent into St. Louis.
I’m of course so happy to have been able to get back to my new home ahead of Winter Storm Gia, but I hated having to leave The Windy City so hastily. However, my quick exit was so in line with how my one year in Chicago was… it was always go, go, GO!
I had visitors seemingly every other weekend, which helped make Chicago feel a lot homier. I took seven day trips to six new cities. I traveled to Florida once to see my dad, made it back to Minnesota several times to visit family and friends, and made one trek each to Los Angeles and Seattle. I explored so much of Chicago on foot, and even more of it on my bike. And that’s all on top of doing what I was there to do in the first place—work for Boeing.
Working in Executive Communications was fun at times, difficult at others. I worked mostly 10 hour days, but plenty of 11, 12, or even 13 hour days too. I was never truly unplugged… I almost always had my work phone in tow, and some days I found myself spending more time on my work computer than on my own iPhone. That’s not to complain, that’s just how it was… it was an adjustment for sure, but it’s an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. I gained so much knowledge and so many skills. I made lifelong friends and I learned a lot about Boeing and a lot about myself. I’m so thankful for that.
I think my new adventure in St. Louis will be a bit more my pace, but only time will tell. Several of my coworkers told me they couldn’t think of anyone more fitting to work in the Boeing Archives… which is music to my ears and makes me that much more excited to start on my new team.
I’m really glad that I’m the type of person to go wherever my dreams take me… wherever life takes me. Not a lot of folks are fortunate to live that type of lifestyle, so I do consider myself extremely lucky. So, for now, here’s to fond memories of Chicago, new beginnings in St. Louis and following your heart. Right now mine is in the sky—literally and figuratively—and I couldn’t be happier.
The Great Planes 