I’m humming Peter Cetera melodies in the kitchen these days. Doing dishes to the ’80’s croon

…if you leave me now, you take away the biggest part of me…

The Bohemian gets a last-minute request to be the best man at his friend’s wedding. Quite a distance to travel from here to Kalamazoo (yes, really, the wedding is in Kalamazoo). I thought it most practical for him to go without me. I’d stay behind and care for Jeb and Moodah the dog. Make sure the plants get watered.

But then there was Peter, singing love songs between every rinsed plate.

…ooo-ooo-ooo-oh, baby please don’t go…I just want you to stay…

Well, I didn’t want the Bohemian to stay. I wanted him to go and lovingly support his friend on a very special day, who was marrying a professional dancer. Yet I knew the wedding would be filled with two-step celebration. If I stayed behind to hold down the home front, would the Bohemian be left solo on the dance floor?

For days we mulled over our responsibilities while Peter Cetera serenaded me. Why Peter? Well, the bride and groom are from Chicago (as is the Bohemian, who had a life there before he came to this island to climb coconut trees, surprisingly meeting me, and subsequently gaining a family). So, the trip is rooted in the Windy City, with a road trip to Kalamazoo for wedding nuptials with a rousing mix of dancing Americans and Czechs.

And so there is Peter, and that most well-known band, my closest connection to the city from an era of my past (think many junior high school bus rides listening to Top 40 through metal speakers).

And then there is my husband – the best man (which, he most certainly is, in my eyes).

In the end it was decided. We will be two-stepping together, all 20+ hours of flight time to Chicago. Yes, the practicals seemed to fall into place, and the powers that be, allowing us to take a short, but sweet, excursion together in the month that marks our one year anniversary since our very own wedding.

I’ve never been to Chicago (or Kalamazoo).

Lift off in 11 days.