Dad remembrance pilgrimage: Day 15
Previous leg: Crosslake, Minnesota to Windsor, Wisconsin
July 24, 2022: Windsor, Wisconsin, to Indianapolis, Indiana
My dad was briefly a resident of the Windy City. Grandpa did his master of divinity at McCormick Seminary, a Presbyterian related school in Chicago. For that reason, I set off towards the big city after my night in the hotel outside of Madison. Fortunately, the rain that had followed me all across Wisconsin was nowhere to be found.
Disciples’ hospitality
Because it was Sunday morning, the first stop was in the northwest suburbs where I stopped to worship with the Disciples of the Christian Church of Arlington Heights. The congregation is heavily involved in refugee resettlement work. Because their pastor was out of town, the morning’s guest preacher was a representative of Exodus World Services. I was impressed by all the amazing work the congregation and organization are able to do together.
The church’s building was damaged by a fire two years ago and they are slowly getting things put back together the way they are supposed to be. The monitor is newly installed and the cross at the front of the sanctuary has been refurbished following severe smoke damage. My personal favorite was the mosaic chalice on the pulpit. Beautiful place to worship and Christian hospitality truly being put into practice. Good way to start the morning. After a brief coffee time it was time to head out and brave downtown Chicago traffic.
Seminary and Wrigley Field
Although McCormick is currently situated in Hyde Park, back in the 1940-1950’s the seminary was located on Fullerton Avenue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. The old location was eventually purchased by DePaul University and added to the neighboring campus. Besides the street name, I could find no remaining architectural traces of the Presbyterian seminary.
It was the first time I had ever walked the same streets my grandparents would have known when dad was a kid. Visiting helped make sense of how my grandpa became a Cubs fan before passing that particular addiction on to me. McCormick‘s old Lincoln Park campus is bordered by Sheffield Avenue. One mile right up the road is the holy land, Wrigley Field.
It was fun to imagine my grandparents taking my toddler dad and his newborn younger brother to a Cubs game, but the truth is they probably never had the time. Grandpa paid for his education with the G.I. Bill. Former service members had five years of education paid for by the federal government. Grandpa took overloads every semester and squeezed seven years of classes into the allotted time.
He said it was a great way to get a degree, but a lousy way to get an education.
Chicago won’t let go
From Wrigley I headed down Lake Shore Drive to get on the highway to Indianapolis. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Getting out of Chicago proved to be the most challenging bit of riding of the trip. Traffic, road construction, accident backups, and a couple of wrong turns added 2-3 hours to the trip. In addition to getting lost, I forgot to calculate that I changed time zones as well. I didn’t get to Indianapolis until well past supper time.
Fortunately, my hosts were exceptionally patient. Dad’s cousin Craig and his wife Sara have been in Indiana since attending the University of Northern Iowa. Even though their dog Allie never fully warmed up to me, we had a late night together catching up and telling stories about dad and the rest of the family. It has been a long time since we had seen each other and the reconnection was incredibly welcome.
Day 15 mileage: 349.9 (2768.3 Total)
Next leg: Indianapolis to St. Croix, Indiana
