Le 4 de Juillet!!

I had the best 4th of July without BBQ ever.

I once thought that it was the ribs, bbq beans, and potato salad that made the 4th of July. It was the ruthless sun which caused blinding reflections off of cars passing by. It was the annoying crackle of the bad kids next door setting off fire crackers. It was the sun tea that grandma made that morning. It was the ice cream man that would drive by when the sun was beginning to set.

This year I didn't have any of that. No ribs, beans, and potato salad. No sun tea. (I did have however some bad kids next door setting of 'works and the ruthless sun).

This was my first 4th in Chicago...one of my favorite cities.

Courtney and I were just kidding about spending the 4th in Chicago to see a few friends of ours. Well our little joke turned into a reality. Next thing we knew, we were on a plane to Chicago, being picked up by a brother named Tim (who talked about absolutely everything on the way back, such as bears and cougars running loose in Chicago. huh???), and walking up the the drive to Pastor Niecy's (aka Godmom) home, which is where we'd be staying for the weekend.

We were aware that the Taste of Chicago was going on and it had crossed our minds that we may grace this annual festival with our presence for a short while. Well Pastor Niecy said it like this..."You are coming to spend the week-end with your Godmother, so go on and cancel all your little plans." In fact, she referred to it as the "salmonella ridden cesspool." Needless to say, we never made it to the taste (lol) which was okay by me. I couldn't have asked for a better week-end. We even changed our flights to leave at a later time so we could spend a little more time with our Chicago family.

I must say, I never thought I'd be kicking it at Pastor Niecy's crib. I was so nervous! simply because this woman is not fooled by facades and words. She is also honest beyond belief, to the point where you just never know what come out of her mouth. (lol) She also is one of the most loving and self-sacrificing people I have ever met. I love her to life!

So we spent the weekend with Godmommy, eating way too much food, going to church, eating more food, shopping, chilling at the house, being very aware of her pit bull's (Duke is his name) every move, and eating. We also met some pret-ty cool people, and got the chance to chill with the other Ray sisters (Ms. Tanya, Ms. Cheryl, and Pastor Kim) for a bit. My most memorable times were just sitting around in her den, eating (of course) and talking about whatever subject came up, and listening to different thoughts, ideas, and pure wisdom travel around the room from ear to ear. This was a week-end to remember.

I am grateful to God for enriching my life with such beautiful people, inside and out.

I ♥ Chicago....and can't wait to be back!