chicago. {ashes in the snow}

My family gathered from all over the US this past week in Chicago.

There are a few things I love about Chicago:

I love the accent...it rubs off on me so quickly you will hear me in no time harshly pronouncing my vowels...and I love it.

I love that we brought a good family friend with us to their first experience at an LDS church, only to find out it was the Spanish branch. They were all so kind!

I love Nanny and Papa's house on Pulaski Road and the fact that there are more Polish people there than in the capital of Poland itself.

I love my Croatian roots.

I love the food- gyros, White Castle, and the traditional meals.....delicious!

I love spending time with all my family.

Last month was a difficult one for me {as you can see from past posts}. Nanny and Papa both passed away among two billion other changes in my life. That was hard. I couldn't really see the light at the end of the tunnel. I wont lie, I don't think death has become any easier, or the pains of missing them any lighter. However, I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel and I know that it is possible to feel joy while I still miss them. Before, I would have told you I didn't believe the person that said, "hard times only make you stronger." But now, I feel stronger. I feel happy. I feel closer to my Savior. I feel ready to embrace life for all it offers and move on.

Chicago was a great time to do that.

One of the things that we did was have a big memorial. It was in a banquet side of a bar, and if you know the Prskalo's, you know how fitting it was. It was really beautiful though, and I think they would be proud.

Nanny and Papa were cremated. Their request was to spread their ashes in a few different places. We spread them so they could be at rest with their parents, and we also spread them across from my Papa's old tavern where my mom grew up. It was strange feeling the ashes in between my fingers and feeling a bit of my grandpa and nanny there with me. As strange as it was, it felt good to have them so close. Towards the end in the true Prskalo style, we started bursting out laughing because we all realized how ironic it was to have their ashes spread in a town named Burnham. I think they would have laughed too.

{oh, how I miss their laughs.}

This past week was a celebration of life in Chicago. The last time I had visited my mother's roots was so long ago most of it was too vague to remember.

Life is too precious to let time slip by like that.

Visit your loved ones.

Travel no matter how far to see them.

Make it a regular occurrence.

Family is just too important.

{A picture of Nanny and Papa that was hanging on their wall. This must have been their body building days and must be where I get my incredible genes. haha.} p.s. I think they got it in Vegas a few years back :)