Kendall County

Newark, Illinois, is a small, rural farming community located in the Chicago outskirts, population 980, and declining. I lived here for 14 years. My children were born here. Today, I took a walk down memory lane. Nothing has changed here in the 18 years that I've been gone.

I visited with my friend for a couple of hours before taking a ride through town. I passed my old home, the one that we built. I passed the ballpark where my kids played softball. The homes are still the same color. The lady who drove a school bus still does as evidence by the bus in her driveway. The only thing that was different was that the Ford dealership is now a used auto lot. Lots of memories rolled through my head... the trees that I planted, birthing my babies, sledding down that hill, hiking up Starved Rock with my parents before my oldest daughter was born, making applesauce from our handpicked apples the day before my youngest daughter was born, only to cuss at my mother when she was trying to rush me to have the baby. Good times.

I arrived at the hotel in Gurnee, Illinois, by mid afternoon and worked for a bit while waiting for check-in time. I took a long, hot shower, dressed, and made my way out.

My plan was to "haunt" an old flame that had ghosted me once upon a time. Have you ever been ghosted? I had not. Let me tell you, it's such a confusing feeling. I found myself trying to make up excuses for his silence. "Maybe his phone got smashed into pieces, and he lost all of his contacts?" "No, surely he knows how to do an internet search."

"Maybe he was killed in a car accident on the way home from the airport ... or severely maimed with amnesia." I looked up his hangout Tavern to see if there were any posts about memorial parties. Nope.

So, my plan was to just show up to his hang out Tavern and see what happened. My goal or expected outcome was to first of all make sure that he was okay and, well, maybe I was looking for a bit of an adrenaline rush, some fun. I like to do crazy things sometimes, just because.

I put the destination in my phone. It's 37 minutes away, but lo and behold, they are closed on Tuesdays! Instead, I went to Outback, sat at the bar watching hockey, and ordered a ribeye. But not before I sent him a text . Five hours later, he messaged back. He's alive! Objective completed.Read more