22 years?????

Wow...I got an email from Geni the other day that informed me that Dave and Janice Benoit are having their 22nd anniversary later this week. Time flies indeed.

The notable thing for me personally on that trip wasn't necessarily their wedding, which was really good, but all the other parts.

Terry and I travelled to Chicago early, perhaps on Boxing Day although I can't be sure, along with Uncle Ted. A memorable trip indeed, and I thought I'd share some of the stories.

One of my key memories, being 22 years ago, was that I had my 365 (now I've gone and dated myself), and was shocked and pleased when Ted not only let me drive, but he let me drive. And drive. And drive. I was thrilled to be behind the wheel for so long, even though it was probably not legal for me to be running a car in the states. In fact, he only took back the wheel after I ran into my first midwest snowstorm and had the car sideways for a time on the interstate bridge. After we all changed underwear, he drove the rest of the way.

I remember getting to go to a Chicago Blackhawks game on that trip, and bemoaning the fact that every time I went to a hockey game, Dino Ciccarelli was playing, the bastard. Must have been the North Stars....I also remember the very next night, we went back to the Chicago Stadium and got to see Air Jordan beat the Cavs on a buzzer beater. That was tre cool.

The hotel was also another adventure. We got to our room, and it wasn't made up yet. Back down to the desk, and we got a 2nd room. This time, when Terry turned on the water to have a shower, the tap sprayed him thoroughly. While he was still clothed. Outside of the tub. Now, Unce Ted was a master at negotiations with the front desks of hotels when things didn't go well, and before we knew it we had a third room, and this time the hotel got it right.

We had a serious suite on our hands. King beds. The full living room treatment. And a glass dining room table. Worked out nicely, because I remember covering it with my PTP cards, nearly completely.

I also remember the pizza we ordered to the room - real Chicago deep dish, it took us the whole few days to eat it, even when we probably shouldn't have still been eating it. Absolutely awesome, and to this day still the best pizza I've ever had.

The rest of the family arrived later for the wedding, which like I said was great, although I got busted bringing some water during the pre-wedding party to do something to Dave's car by Dave, which I don't think he was thrilled about. To this day I still don't know exactly WHAT we were going to do....

Overall, an awesome trip. I just can't believe it was 22 years ago.

Happy Anniversary, Dave and Janice.

Thanks for a lot of great memories, Uncle Ted.