In mid-July, I opened my old footlocker to grab my high school yearbooks. I wanted to do some groundwork before my reunion.
I ended up spending an hour going through all the pictures that I’ve kept along the years. Pictures that would now be on a cellphone.
I came across a stack from the annual Christmas parties that I hosted at Shanahan’s. In one of the pictures was a guy that hung out along the strip of bars on Madison Street. He strolled into the bar that night and mixed into the party. I wondered what had happened to that character in the thirty years since.
We called him the Bank Detective, but his name was Bob. He never drank and was always very friendly. Bob came from a big Catholic family in the Oak Park/River Forest area. Bob was probably ten years older than me.
He was a decent conversationalist that always asked a shit ton of questions. Always the same questions over and over every time he came into the bar. Then he would sneak to the back and jot down notes in a little pocket notebook. That is how we came to nickname him the Bank Detective. Just one of the many characters we run into on our life journey.
Anyway, yesterday I took Fritz over to Parky’s for a birthday hot dog. Hazel was at her mom’s house and we dropped George off at JoJo’s so they could hang out together.
It was perfect, just me and my middle son on his birthday. Unfortunately, we pulled into the parking lot and Parky’s was closed. That was a kick in the throat. Fritz being the cool and calm kid wasn’t upset and said we could go to McDonald’s or somewhere else instead.
“McDonald’s? McDonald’s on your birthday? Fuck that son, I gotta back up joint that isn’t far from here.”
We drove through South Oak Park and arrived at Pete’s down on the corner of Ridgeland and Roosevelt Road. Pete’s is in my top ten hotdog joints, so Fritz was getting a new experience on his birthday.
We got up to the counter and Fritz ordered a couple hotdogs, fries and a root beer. I ordered a Maxwell Street with fries and a Coca Cola.
Sitting at a table near the register is Bob, the Bank Detective. His curly black hair is now gray, but he still has his black framed glasses. Just like the 1990’s, he was dressed like he was coming from church. A pair of slacks and a button-down shirt with loafers.
Bob and I caught up while I was waiting for our food. I reminded him that I was Jumbo and finally told him what his nickname was during the Clinton years. Our food was ready and I said goodbye to the character that I just came across in a photo earlier in the summer.
Fritz and I sat down at a table outside of the restaurant. Three minutes later Bob sat down to join us.
He told us that it’s been forty-eight years since he had brain surgery. He talked about going to Mass at Saint Luke’s and his parents, Joseph and Mary.
“I was destined to be a good Catholic kid having parents with those names Jumbo.”
Bob asked me where I lived, three times. He asked me how many kids I had, three times and he asked me what bar I hung out at, three times.
I live in Riverside; I have three kids and I hung out at Shannys. I’m sure Bob wrote all of this down in the notebook that I noticed in his dress shirt pocket.
The brain surgery wrecked Bob’s short-term memory, so he used a scratch pad to remember what happened. He has been doing that for forty-eight years.
We finished our lunch and said goodbye to Bob. He started walking up Ridgeland, but turned around about thirty feet away and said, “Goodbye Jumbo, Happy Birthday Fritz.”
Fritz and I got into Betty the Green Blazer. I turned to Fritz and said, “This was something God did. God doesn’t plan hurricanes and tornadoes, but he arranges shit like this Fritz.”
It was destined for Parky’s to be closed on the last couple Sundays of the summer. It was destiny that we drove over to Pete’s instead. I told Fritz that I came across a picture of Bob earlier in the summer and I wondered whatever happened to him.
God sent us to Pete’s and I found out what happened to Bob the Bank Detective. Again, another example of the Mystery of our Faith.
Today is National Dog Day. Perfectly placed during the dog days of summer. Keep yourself cool this week and never stop being astonished.
