The constant through my life has been friendship. Not money or romance, but a solid flow of friends.
I have been blessed with great people who showed up when the weather turned, who didn’t flinch when things got hard, who stayed seated at the table long after the meal was over.
Love on the other hand, has come and gone just like yesterday’s weather. One afternoon, warm enough to fool you into thinking winter had surrendered. The next morning, gray skies, wind off the lake and the kind of cold that creeps into your bones and reminds you it is still February.
That’s life, warm fronts and cold snaps that open windows and slam doors.
Today’s grabber section pits Hammond, Indiana against Arlington Heights, Illinois. Two towns, two states with civic chest-thumpers fighting over who gets to host the Chicago Bears.
I could give two shits where the Monsters of the Midway play their mediocre football. The Bears aren’t my friend. They are the toxic relationship in my life. I keep showing up in my old Payton jersey and they keep disappointing. I swear I’m done, then September rolls around and there I am again, like a fool waiting for an apology that never comes.
That isn’t friendship, it is an addiction with nostalgia attached.
Today is the last day of February and if we are being honest, it has been a horrible month. Gray, heavy, and expensive. The kind of month that sets a tone you didn’t ask for in 2026.
The good news is the calendar flips tonight. Winter will loosen its teeth and the sun climbs over the lake. We might not see it when clouds get in the way, but it is there.
We get to choose whether we carry February into March or leave it on the nail where it hung. I say flip it before you go to bed tonight .
Let’s find some decency in March. Some gusto, some astonishment and some smiling suns breaking through the cloud deck.
Friendship is love without the wings. It doesn’t float off. It doesn’t disappear with the weather. It stays up on the stage or in the shadow behind the curtain. Friendship plows through the snow and answers the phone…
…and that is more than enough for me.
