Wait for it….. wait for it…. I was out until 10:30 last night. I about pissed myself when “Mr. Blue Sky” started playing on the nightstand. That’s my morning alarm that goes off at 3:33am during the week. I rarely need to use an alarm, but since I was out rocking and rolling so late last night… I slept to the alarm.
There was a day many years ago when I was just going out at 10:30 and rolling into bed at 3:30 in the morning. Many times a trip down to Maxwell Street was involved.
I went to see Ike Reilly and his son at the Unity Temple in Oak Park. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, it opened in 1908.
I’ve been there three times.... a wedding, a funeral and a concert.
The wedding was my dads to my stepmom in the late 1970’s. My dad didn’t get his marriage with my mom annulled, so he was forced to get married in a Unitarian Church.
Cardinal Cody did my Oldman a favor. The marriage lasted almost forty years and the wedding was in a historic place. That’s what you get for not paying the pope a divorce fee.
The second time I was in this unique Temple was for the funeral of a dear friends father. It was the first funeral I attended where everyone was happy and celebrating. These Unitarians don’t milk the grief like the Catholics do. Everyone was happy for Mr. Haas. I think we took Danny Boy for a Polish down on Maxwell Street later that night.
Last night I went and saw a guy I’ve seen at Fitzgerald’s a couple of times in the past. Last night I was going to see John Wagner’s buddy from Marquette.
It was an intimate experience. The average age of the crowd was forty nine. The crowd was mellow and happy. The farthest seat from Ike’s guitar was probably 150 feet.
For me I was there because I was hoping to see Wags standing somewhere off to the side. We were in a religious building after all. Wags loved Ike and I could see why. The storytelling and the passion move the soul, make smiles appear and will make a tear dribble down your cheek.
When they solve a crime in the television show “Cold Case” the ghost of the victim usually appears to the detective at the end of the show. A kind of “thanks for solving my murder, I can go to heaven in peace now” symbolism.
I was daydreaming that Wags would appear in a church pew kitty corner to me. Look over and say, “Hey Shep…. I arranged all the traffic lights going home to be green for you.”
Then he’d stand up and walk up on stage while Ike was singing and unplug his guitar. Smile at Ike and walk over to the altar and disappear. Just like the dead victim from “Cold Case.”
I never saw Wags, but I’m sure he was there. Maybe my dad and stepmom were there as well. Maybe Mr. Haas was there. Last time I saw him he was laying in a casket right where Ike was singing.
A wedding, a funeral and a rock concert. That’s what a famous Frank Lloyd Wright building means to me.
I wanted to drive by my dad’s house in Oak Park. I always do when I’m close by, but my sixteen year old was lighting up my phone reminding me it was getting close to my bedtime.
Wags did set me up… I didn’t wait at any red lights on the way back to Riverside.
