I hung out with a group of friends during most of the nineties and into the early zeroes who were both Hawkeye fans and Illini fans. We would go to either Iowa City or Champaign every year to tailgate and watch football. Some of the stories are epic. This story takes place during the trip to Champaign in 2000.
It was a big group this year of about twelve to fifteen. I was sharing a room with my friend Sharon and one of her colleagues. They were both lawyers at a good firm in Chicago. I had known Shannon for about ten years and I met her girlfriend that weekend.
Late Friday afternoon I checked into our room and waited for the girls to arrive from Chicago. I was getting antsy because a good part of our contingency was already at a bar. The girls arrived and we caught up and went over the itinerary for the weekend. Shannon pulled me to the side and told me her friend was off limits and I told her I was good. We walked into the room and continued to go over the game plan with Shannon's friend.
When we came back in the room, Shannon told her friend that she wanted to make sure Shep doesn't bring any coeds back to the hotel.
This is where I told the girls that I actually had been seeing someone for a little over a month and I liked her. No JumboLove for the DG girls this weekend.
I started to tell the girls about my new love interest and I suddenly remembered that her father was a lawyer at a big firm in the loop. When I told the girls the firm, Seyfarth Shaw they put it all together with the description I gave them. They both worked at Seyfarth.
Without telling them my new girlfriend's name... They looked at each other and howled, "Big ED Bergmann!" in a straightforward tone. I immediately replied..... "That is him."
I had met my future father in law twice before the trip to Champaign. Both occasions he was very amicable and polite. I'm sure he was a little skeptical that his daughter brought home a Board of Trade guy eleven years her senior.
My lawyer friends and I walked over to the bars and they explained that Mr. Bergmann was an old school lawyer who kept to himself and was well respected at the firm and in his practice.
Last night my mother in law called me from the hospital to tell me her husband was going back in surgery and she needed me and the Shepkids to pray for PopPop.
George is very close with PopPop and they get together almost every Saturday and hangout. George always greets Pop with a hug and kiss. They go to the hardware store. They go to the camera store. They go to the clothes store, the shoe store, the car wash and the cleaners. Sometimes they go to Buttefield and hit golf balls. George does the heavy chores around Pop's house and then they go to lunch. It has been therapeutic for both of them and it gives me a little alone time.
I woke up this morning worried if PopPop passes away that the scar left on George would be destructive. George has done so well these last couple years going from a boy on the Autistic Spectrum to a young man.
His weekly errands and lunch with PopPop are a big part of George's positive therapy. PopPop has been a large presence in Georgie's life from the get go. George was Pop's first grandchild and he was so proud when he pushed George in the stroller.
I'm gonna need a shit ton of prayers from the Chalkheads today. I need my father in law (yes, I'm divorced...that doesn't matter) to heal up and help me raise George. George is doing so well right now and I don't need him taking backward steps.
PopPop and George both love trains and George wants a career on the railroad. PopPop needs to see his oldest grandson fulfill this goal. George needs to continue to make Mr. Bergmann a proud Grandfather.
It is going to be a cold overcast day in Chicagoland. Bundle up and take a brisk walk. The leaves are just as beautiful with a gray backdrop. Soon they will have all fallen and the trees will be bare.
October is almost over and Tricks and Treats will be frigid on Tuesday. Remember to put the smile on the sun and go into November happy and healthy....
