So I’ve recently been going through my LinkedIn profile and just looking at all the connections I’ve made. The first thing that strikes me is the history. I mean, there are people in my contacts that I worked with but haven’t seen or spoken to in over a decade. It’s crazy to me that so much time can pass so quickly and that I can have changed so much.

The folks I worked with in Chicago were amazing and talented and I learned so much from them. Nancy gave me my first real position and then stuck up for me when I made massive, bone-head mistakes. John taught me about fishing, Stakely showed me what drive and ambition looked like, Tracy demonstrated compassionate leadership, Raj introduced me to Indian food, David introduced me to backpacking, Beth was gentleness itself, and I loved making up romance novel stories to embarrass and delight Pam.

But life took me to California and then Georgia and then Florida and now Virginia. I’ve met many people along the way and I’ve had great experiences (as well as some not-so-great). I’ve grown up. I’ve grown as a professional, as a father, as a husband, as a man, and as a believer. And through all of that, I can’t help thinking that my formative years were there, in Chicago.

I still love that city. Candi and I talk about it fondly – so much so that it’s one of the places Cami most wants to go. It’s weird how I’ve been all over the country as well as three other countries since we moved away and yet when we left Chicago in June 2000, I’ve never managed to make it back. (except for a week of training in 2001)

I wouldn’t be where I am without my time in Chicago, without the people I knew and worked with there. That time, those people, that experience helped shaped the path that I walk now and I’m truly and genuinely grateful.