Jamie Hilao

I went back to Chicago to attend the wedding of my former Chambana college roommate, Mz. Heidi. With my godson Miguel at my side, I saw many old familiar faces from my college days, and I felt a bit nostalgic looking at an old photo of Heidi, myself, and Jo from Hides’ graduation that was placed at our reception table. It was a beautiful wedding, and I had a great time with Meggy.

I took a few extra days off and hung out with close friends and family. It was nothing super extraordinary, which made my trip perfect: I celebrated Jay’s birthday with some friends at the Metro for the Hot Chip show and Green Dolphin Street for Boom Boom Room; I indulged in Garrett’s popcorn with my family; I met Irene’s baby Kaitlyn; I tried a new restaurant with old friends; and I witnessed Meggy and Katleya drive for the first time.

I returned to Chicago 9 days later for Mikey and Adele’s wedding. We got into a bit of trouble - well actually, Meggy got us into a bit of trouble. We got locked out of our car before the ceremony even started and then there there that interesting scene with a cab driver on the way home. Otherwise, there was no weekend drama, just more good times: chilling late night with some old friends at a packed Euro cafe, my awesome sister making me breakfast and lunch, enjoying Potbelly’s with my bro & Meggy, and spending QT with my good friends Adam and Nikko.

Each time I get on a plane to return to LA from Chicago, I wipe away a few tears. I know that so many things have changed since I moved 6 1/2 years ago, but, despite the time lapse, everything feels so natural when I’m back home.

Right now, it’s been almost a week since I got back from my last trip. I am soaking in and reflecting on all of the adventures of the last few weeks, both here in LA and in Chicago. I am going through a trying time right now, and strangely enough, I am glad to be away from Chicago and instead have to deal with this here. I am so thankful for all of the love and support of my SoCal friends and am feeling pretty damn lucky in spite of it all.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 18th, 2008 at 12:48 pm and is filed under Jamie, Chicago, Family, Friends, Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.