Easter Weekend with the Chicago Thomases

Since leaving downtown Chicago last Thursday, I’ve been staying with my brother, Ken, and his family in their beautiful home in Plainfield, IL. He and his wife, Jean, have created a comfortable, welcoming oasis in their corner of Suburbia and I’ve enjoyed this opportunity to reconnect with my youngest brother and his family! It’s been a real treat to share briefly in their busy and interesting lives and hearing a bit of their hopes and dreams. We’ve played cards, gone for walks, visited the surrounding area, died Easter eggs, danced to the Wii and eaten wonderful meals! It’s been a perfect break from life on the road!

Meet my brother and his family:

Kaylyn, Candice, Elizabeth, Sean, Jean, Ken, Ryan

Ken is working out of the home now as a Field Operations Manager for Integration Partners, a data and voice network company. He is good at what he does – having grown his staff 3-fold in the 8 months that he’s been working for them – and seems to enjoy it.  That makes 3 of 4 of my siblings that work out of the home. Hmm, it must be because we are responsible and reliable, right?! Ken is the go to guy in this house for fixing computers, remodeling bathrooms, moving doors and generally fixing what needs to be fixed. But, he's about to embark on a pursuit of his personal passion for flying: he's going to build his own plane!

Jean's Gingerbread Shoppe

Jean is a talented crafts maker with a skilled eye for display. Their guest room is a great example of that – I’m sleeping in a room of Easter bunnies and bears and cute signs and great scents! She and Ken are taking advantage of her vision and skills. They have leased a storefront on the main street of Plainfield in the artsy downtown area of their community where Jean plans to sell her own crafts along with creations from artisans around the world. Their plans seem to have considered every variable and the potential for success is very exciting!

Kaylyn in her Versa

Ken and Jean have three bright, friendly, and welcoming daughters. Kaylyn, their youngest and a high school junior, is the only child left in the nest. She has a ready smile and is always ready to join in the fun (except for dying Easter eggs after a long day at work – go figure). She misses her sisters, but is busy with work and school and the Color Guard for her high school band. Next week she sits for the ACTs and is starting to look ahead to studying music education or music therapy at a college someplace WARM (we hope she chooses ECU)! Kaylyn is the proud owner of a new-to-her Nissan Versa and is an excellent driver – which I can say from experience!

Candice, their oldest daughter, is a sophomore at Lewis University in the romantically named town of Romeoville, where she is studying Criminal Justice and Forensic Science.  Candice is warm and laughs easily, bantering teasingly with Ken and her mom like good friends. She has a boyfriend, Ryan, who is an EMT and they seem to really have fun together. Candice is between jobs at this point, which allows her to focus on her studies and – lucky for me – spend more time with her family!

The Exelon Nuclear Garden

Elizabeth, their middle daughter, is at Joliet Junior College and hopes to go to the University of Illinois at Chicago to finish her degree in Elementary Education. She is bright and grasps irony quickly. While walking past a garden sponsored by Exelon Nuclear, she spotted the irony in all of the dead grass around the sign – a subtle but powerful point the rest of us had missed! Her boyfriend, Sean, is also hoping to teach but is looking to teach math at the high school or college level. She is working the graveyard shift and providing childcare for a curious 3 year old, all the while finding time to study – and to visit with her grateful aunt!