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Chicago-Style Good Fortune (Cookie)

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Real Estate Agent with @properties

A beautiful Saturday visited Chicago today, providing Chicagoans from Lincoln Park to Edgewater with a pleasant dose of sunshine to offset too many days of gray and cold. And while the thermometer didn't hit the season norm here the fact that we were able to cast shadows was a wonderful diversion to our ongoing battle against the elements.

Nicole's Fortune Quite Accurate PerhapsI guess you could say that today we had good fortune.

Fortune, what a nearly archaic term. On the one hand it refers to luck. On the other hand it is about riches or wealth. In either case most of us aspire for good fortune both in terms of the best of luck as well as money in the bank.

The funny thing about fortune though is that we we are waiting for it to visit us like a sunny day in winter each of us still has to do the groundwork in preparation for and in anticipation of its arrival. It's like a garden - if you fail to tend to it what you'll grow will be weeds.

The same thing is true with kids - if you fail to tend to them you may want a different kind of weed to take your mind off of what a failure you've been with your most important role - being a good parent and role model.

Tom's Fortune Intensely DeliveredAnyway, all of these thoughts crashed through the fragile fabric of my mind earlier today after my wife and I ate lunch at Baisi Thai at the Bloomingdale's Building in Chicago's Gold Coast. Even though it's a Thai restaurant they leave fortune cookies with the check. In the briefest of moments my wife and I determined our fates as our hands drifted toward which cookie we would each claim (and which conceptually might claim us with the fortune it declared).

Having grown up a nice Irish kid on Chicago's south side I have more than a few superstitions. Most of them are pretty run of the mill - if I tap my leg seven times before Ramirez takes his next swing he will connect for a hit and the Cubs will win the World Series - if I take my foot off the accelerator between Belmont and School going north on Ashland I will be able to make every green light until Foster - if I do a headstand for more than 17 seconds on an odd-numbered Tuesday in February a Democrat will win the presidential election.

Our Boys' Rings - TrueAnd fortune cookies? You have to at least take a small bite for the fortune to come true.

So there we were, each taking a nibble of our cookies awaiting for our fortunes to come about. And with each grinding of the jaw to pulverize the slightly sweet and relatively tasteless cookie it dawned upon us that today's fortune wasn't so much a fortune as it was a statement. Two statements actually. One for Nicole. One for me.

But nonetheless good fortune shines upon us and its brilliance is quite simple - the two of us have come together and together we have come to welcome our beautiful sons. But unlike the sun that shines occasionally on a winter day these two sons never peek behind the clouds.

And though I am a fan of the idea of good fortune, I suppose at heart what I truly believe is that I make (or don't make) my own good fortune. In other words it's a state of mind. With the right attitude I am blessed with the best of fortune no matter what.

By the way, for those of you who are out and about tomorrow three properties are featured as open houses:

1934 W Thomas is open from 11a-1p (new construction East Village condo)

2214 W Cullom is open from 1p-3p (new construction Lincoln Square single family home)

1312 W Ohio is open from 1.30p-3.30p (first time resale East Village single family home)

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