Chicago..what it has given me

As part of my new reflection on myself and my life, these last 4 yrs of living in Chicago is a large part of it, so there will be a few posts about that...and I will start about the positives..I do want to try and be the "glass half full" person..
So we will start with what has living in Chicago given me..

My marriage: I have gotten the type of marriage you dream of. We have been here for 4yrs and had only each other to lean on. We have only each other to talk to, do things with, experience life with, the ups, the downs, all the in between. It has taught us that all we truly need in the world is each other and we know that we can make it through anything that life brings. I have my soul mate next to me. Would I have gotten there without Chicago, yes, but it may have taken me longer, there would have been other distractions along the way.

My Hadley: I have a bond with her that I will never have with another child again. I will never be in this situation again. We have been each other's everything from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep. We haven't had a sitter here in Chicago for the past 1 1/2 yrs (Henrietta we miss you) and when we did, we didn't use her much (it gets expensive)..and so the only times Hadley isn't with me is when family is around to babysit(or when I leave her with Jason to run errands)..so maybe 4-5x a year...and then while she is at school while I work! (thank god for work!!!) But due to this we are very close, and due to this Hadley knows just how to push her Mommy's buttons!! The bond I have with her is something I cannot put into words and is not your normal Mother-Daughter bond, over the last 4 yrs I have repeated more times than I could count.."It's just the two of us" She is my whole heart. And I do admit when we are home, I miss that one on one time I am used to having with her, so it will be hard to lose some of that.

My strength: I was scared to death to come to Chicago. I was never one to do anything by myself, I think I always did things with Jenny by my side in high school and then in college lived in the sorority so I was surrounded by someone to go with me. After that, it was Jason or my mom..so the idea of being in Chicago with just a 1yr old at the time was very scary. But I did it, and in the years I gained a strength to do it all. I learned the way around the city, the suburbs, got 3 different jobs, found Hadley 2 different amazing schools, learned to drive in Chicago traffic, learned the El system (for the most part), developed a sense of city living and independence. And with Jason working so much, took over the household. I didn't have a choice. I didn't have anyone to call to say "help". I also learned I could survive without a million friends around, which was new to me, and sad at the same time.

My Joan: We have been the best of friends since college, sorority sisters, husbands are great friends, we were inseparable while living near each other. So the question is always what happens to a friendship when one person moves many states away...well..in this case..nothing. Moving away has shown me that our friendship is one that will last the test of time. We talk or text almost daily. We are just as close today as we were the day we left college, not many people can say that. We try our hardest to see each other when I make it back to KS, and she has made the trip up to Chicago (heavily medicated as she fears planes!!) Joan is my best friend no matter where I live, and my heart hurts at how much I miss her.

So Chicago, I thank you for giving me these things that will last me the rest of my life! But really, now, I am done with you and ready to move on!!