Looks like I’ll have to postpone the Summer of Scott and Zelda again for another summer.
I don’t know what the hell is going on this week, but hindsight will soon show the silver lining.
I spent the Summer of 1978 with my dad while my mom was down in Indianapolis. I turned twelve that July. My dad and I jumped on the Lake Street for my birthday and went to the Loop to see “Jaws 2.”
That was the summer I had my first Maxwell Street Polish. I took the el to Cub and Sox games. It was a glorious summer until I had to go back to Indianapolis.
From that summer on I looked at my parents differently.
I’m not sure what memories will be made in the Summer of ‘22. The martinis will be fewer. Less books will be read. No naked ladies in my bed eating bacon and probably less Louis Armstrong and Cole Porter.
I see chicken nuggets, Nickelodeon and Roblox in the near future and Hazel listening to B96 in the bathtub.
George has a job at Farmers Market and works out with Jerry Owen.
Fritz will continue to tell me about Minecraft shit and scientific crap that I’m not hearing, but saying… “wow, that’s really cool Freddie!”
Hazel, well Hazel… she’s daddies little girl. By September she will say “I’m sorry” only when needed and hopefully she won’t have the Hinsdale temper tantrums any longer.
I sure wish I could wake up knowing my dad was down the hall. It would be nice to wake up and see a couple CTA tokens on my nightstand.
Now it’s the summer of ‘22… Dad IS down the hall and he’s wearing his “I Love Hot Mom’s” t-shirt… I know Don Shepley never wore one of those… actually all his T-shirts were just plain white.
See you in ‘23 Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald……
