Tuesday - Day FourAMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAYWe look forward to a very different kind of Chicago day, as we have been invited out to the West Suburbs to visit Yasmin (Yaralli) & Tom Cavenagh and their children, Sean, Ben and Gillian. Nico grew up with Yasmin in Nassau and attended their wedding 13 years ago (!!), and it was like visiting a cousin. Tom and Yasmin live in Oak Park about 20 minutes west of Chicago, in an area that looks more like an urban residential area than a suburb (and in fact they agreed that they were actually in the city). It was a very nice neighbourhood, as we noticed, as more and more of their neighbours and friends came by for a Fourth of July barbecue.
We arrived an hour before everyone else so that we could catch up on all of the news and meet the kids before the party really got going. We had met Sean (almost 10) several times before, but the last time we saw Benjamin (4) he was a baby, and Gillian (2) wasn't even born. It was great to meet the kids again, and to see them on their home turf. They are growing up extremely well! Everyone looks in great shape. Yasmin doesn't look like a woman with three children - in fact, she doesn't look any different from the day she got married. Tom maybe has a little less hair, but he doesn't look much different either - they're a great advertisment for parenthood. Their back garden is blooming with flowers - Yasmin has inherited her mother's love of gardening, much to her surprise (and when we told her that Adrian has also taken after his mother and is gardening on his balcony she laughed). Adrian should also be aware that Tom was very amused by the fact that AD was happily married, liking LA, and waiting for a green card, as Tom's impression was that Adrian was not overly fond of the USA.
We met numerous friends and neighbours of Yasmin and Tom, and by 5 the back yard was full of little children (Sean was one the oldest) playing mostly happily with one another. Gillian, who is a character, was bossing the girls around, and Sean and Ben were actively playing with the other boys. Their parents sat around and chatted and drank, until the time came for the food to be put on the barbecue. What was served up was a feast in itself: mounds of chicken, paella, skewers of steak and amazing vegetables, Yasmin's zucchini-squash casserole (which Tom stayed far away from) various salads, and a strawberry-rhubarb pie (which Tom stayed very close to). The food was fine and the company was extremely pleasant. We told our road trip stories as we met each new group of people and they inquired about our travels. It was great to see Yasmin, Tom & the kids, and it was especially nice to see them at home in Chicago, as we only ever get to see them when they're visiting Nassau. They are looking very happy and well, and one day we'll be back. Tomorrow we leave Chicago and head east, towards Indiana and Ohio, where we hope to hook up with Jessi. |
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