Last Sunday, I decided to take my own advice and attend a lecture on Native American heritage given at the Helen Plum Memorial Library. This program was hosted by the Lombard Historical Society and presented by past municipal village clerk Lorraine Gerhardt, who is one-quarter Cherokee Indian.

A chill is in the air. The leaves are turning incredible colors and tumbling down. Gardeners are harvesting and canning their crops. I’m baking apple pies. Front porches are popping up decorated with pumpkins and gourds. So, it must be my favorite time of the year — autumn.

Four years have past and it’s time again to listen, educate yourself, and vote in an upcoming election on Tuesday, Nov. 4. This year should be exciting considering we have Barack Obama running to be the first African-American president and Sarah Palin running to be the first female vice president.

The rain has stopped, the sun is shining and my spirits are lifting. But I must confess my spirits were actually lifted from leaving Lombard for the day. My sister Maureen and I took off for downtown Chicago last week to see one of the best Broadway plays I have ever seen.

After taking two weeks off and surviving last weekend’s rain, I am sitting here writing, trying to get back into the groove of this column. For the first time since I started this column, I took time off. It was not for a vacation though — my mother, Dorothy McBride, passed away Aug. 25 at the ripe young age of 90.

Summer is winding down, kids are going back to school this week and the weather is absolutely beautiful in Lombard. I must say the climate we have enjoyed for a good portion of the summer has been wonderful. I have used my air conditioner for only a couple of weeks, which is a true bonus with the cost of electricity these days. I hope it stays this way.

On my quest to find you, my readers, businesses in our community who have great customer service, I am always on the lookout for a business that is reasonably priced. So let me tell you about Kelly Nails at 1125H S. Main St., just around the corner from Enchanted Castle.

Last Saturday was a day frozen in time as I experienced a full-circle moment as I sat and watched my next-door neighbor of 20 years, Jason Lahr, marry his college sweetheart Erin O’Connor, whom he courted for more than seven years.

With the soaring prices of gasoline, food, clothing and the other basics we are used to living with, I am feeling out of control.

When I was a little girl, my Aunt Margaret lived with us. She was a spry first-generation Irish woman in her late eighties who wore her white hair in a bun on top of her head and went to church every day. I have the best memories of coming home from school to the aroma of fresh baked bread and many Saturday mornings waking up to homemade chocolate doughnuts specially made by Aunt Margaret for the McBride gang, which consisted of myself and four siblings.

This is a different summer for me. With a lot going on, it is highly probable we will not be going out of town for vacation. Although I love getting on a plane or going on a car trip for a week or two, I have found there are many ways to enjoy a vacation right here in the city of Chicago.

June 13th was a beautiful, cool night and a little rainy, but more than 1,000 people turned out at the Relay for Life of Addison, Lombard & Villa Park at Montini High School. With 43 survivors signing in and more than 700 luminarias sold by that night, $67,080 had been raised.

“Splish Splash,” “Crank That,” and “One Singular Sensation” were just three dance numbers out of 42 that were performed by the DeForest Dance Academy Students in Elmhurst on June 13 and 14 at York High School Auditorium.

Wet your whistle, sharpen your tastebuds, release that shopping desire and head on over to the Shops on Butterfield for a “Nite on the Town at Yorktown” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through July 17.

My daughter Rosie’s summer break from school started out with a trip she had been planning since January. It was such a success we decided to pass on some tips.
On May 15, Rosie boarded a plane with one of her sorority sisters and some members of her family to take a 10-day trip to Ireland. Our family visited Ireland 10 years ago, but this trip would be much more of an adventure for four young, single people.