Chicago

It’s a ten hour drive from southwest Virginia to Chicago, IL. We left in the early hours of Saturday morning to get a jump start on driving and quickly found ourselves second guessing that decision, and maybe even the decision to drive instead of fly. Despite being the second week of April, the roads were awful. Every bridge was iced over and the further we drove the more the temperature dropped. Within our first 30 miles we passed two wrecks, both on bridges. By the time we hit West Virginia, a place I’ve spent very little time in the past, I was struck by several things. First, what happened to spring? It was clearly still the dead of winter there. And second, why do they have so many bridges? Every single one with an anxiety-invoking “bridges ICE before roads” sign. After three white-knuckle hours on the “wild and wonderful” bridges of West Virginia, we hit Ohio, which brought the return of spring, far fewer bridges, and naps for Emelyn and me.

Welcome to spring in West Virginia.

Indiana was probably our favorite state. The wind turbine farm on I-65 was fascinating. Emelyn, who loves a good ceiling fan, was enamored with the giant twirling objects that appeared out of nowhere and stretched across the Indiana plains for miles (there are 303 total according to Wikipedia). We’re considering one for the next house, though I’m sure the HOA will say otherwise.

Hitting the Illinois state line signaled the end of the journey, because you’re basically in Chicago at that point. Patrick and I were amazed. While Emelyn’s typically a good traveler, we still anticipated her to grow tired of riding in her car seat playing with the same few toys for hours, but we were pleasantly surprised. Emelyn had not fussed or cried the entire day. As long as she was moving, she was content. The traffic in Chicago, while light because it was a Saturday, caused a few discontent sounds in the backseat, but still no tears. West Virginia aside, it was an uneventful and pleasant drive.

The Chicago skyline.

To fully explain our Chicago experience – what we learned, the conversations we had, the connections we made, I will need to spend hours upon hours typing. And to be honest, we still haven’t fully digested it all. So, my plan is to tackle Chicago in several posts. That will be more manageable for me, and much more digestible for you. I’ll plan to cover everything from sensory processing disorder and ABA therapy to research studies and knockout mice to the naming conventions of newly discovered genetic disorders and everything in between.

The sights and sounds of Chicago were just
too much for Emelyn.

Our expectations for Chicago were fairly ambiguous. We knew we’d have the opportunity to meet other young ladies with Emelyn’s same diagnosis and their families, hear from educational, medical, and research professionals working directly with those affected with the DDX3X gene mutation, and, of course, eat some Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Chicago certainly met these expectations and more. Yes, it brought us connections, information, and obnoxious amounts of cheese, but most of all, it brought us hope. We left Chicago with a deep sense of hopefulness for Emelyn and for all the young ladies who have an extra special DDX3X gene.

It was as good as it looks!