Alemar's, we'll miss you.

I know it's weird but we are grieving a strange loss, the closing of our favorite after church restaurant, Alemar's in Palatine. This was where we went most Sunday's after church. The waitresses all knew us and welcomed us to their tables. The hostess/owner always greeted us with "How many today?" since it varied from just Pete and I to Katie and all the kids to even more of us. Nine to eleven seats was not uncommon. They knew us; they knew our stories, we knew some of theirs. This was the restaurant my former husband ate his last breakfast, the gypsy skillet. Katie almost always ordered the same meal thinking the odds were against another family member having a heart attack after eating the same meal! I did say weird, didn't I?

One of the local TV stations even did a piece on Alemar's, bigger than coverage for Bennigan's. I did say weird, didn't I? So when Pete and I went there for lunch with some of the grandkids Wednesday, we were sad. Their flowers were always unbelievably beautiful, their Greek style food, yummy; those bloody Mary's, perfect. Things, times, economies change. People and their stories take on even more importance. Our hope is that each of those sweet people from the busboy who always gave Isaiah a little hair ruffle, to Pete the line cook to Jackie and Randy who encouraged Katie especially, each find a new spot to share their special brand of attention. We'll miss you. We hope we meet again.