Soli and Chicago: A True Story

By Alison C Myers

Join the author on a true journey. Is this a coincidence or something on the miraculous side? You tell me what you think.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781648015342

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Soli and Chicago

A True Story

Alison C Myers

Copyright © 2020 Alison C Myers

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2020

ISBN 978-1-64801-533-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64801-534-2 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

I dedicate this to my family who puts up with my life. I could not do it without you. I also dedicate this to the city of Chicago that has a huge heart and now Mayor Lightfoot who is bringing the love back to Chicago. It is a great time to be a woman.

My appointment was set for one in the afternoon, and it was only twelve thirty, so I was doing well with time. I took the road leading out of town, and soon I was turning onto the grounds of a private Catholic school and church. I was raised Catholic but not practicing. I figured I had made so many bad decisions that God had to be disappointed with me. This school was calling to me, and I was going to find out why. The lane was tree-lined and very comforting, there was a large fountain on the left with the greenest grass, and everything was stately and gave off a very secure feeling to me. It was kind of like coming home. I followed the lane around the fountain, and there stood the office building and the church. I parked the car and stood in awe of the simple beauty of this place. I couldn’t believe that I lived only twenty-five minutes away from here and never came onto this campus before. The church was so tall, and there were so many steps leading to the doors that I wondered how some people could even get up there. The office building had arched doorways made out of brick, and it looked like a monk would come around the corner at any moment. I followed the signs to the admissions office, and when I saw the office door, I stopped. That’s when the battle began in my head with questions of doubt about what I was doing. I wanted to finish my degree that I had started, but then changed my major. What was sociology now was religious studies, and this was the closest place for that, but the expense? Was it worth it? Mom told me to just focus on a job and raising my kids. No, I wanted my kids to see their mom working and furthering her education; that was very important to me. Oh, what the hell. Just go in and see what they say. You don’t know if you don’t try; just go in! Something was about to happen in my life, and I knew it.

I opened the door; and, as I looked around, I was pleasantly surprised by how inviting it felt. A lady came around the corner with a big smile and said, You must be Addison? She took my hand and held it, while I nodded my head and then could barely get the word yes out. Miss Lori will be right with you; she’s finishing up a phone call. I couldn’t wait to see what this woman looked like; she was very persuasive on the phone in a happy way, and she did get me to this point, so she must be pretty good at her job. The room had a big picture window that looked out to a pond and let in sunrays that bounced off the mahogany wood all over the room. I felt like snuggling in with a book. I heard a door open. Then this young woman appeared dressed earthy and very cool looking; she made me smile.

We introduced ourselves and shook hands. Miss Lori led me to her office that was small in size but appeared larger because of the bookshelves that were behind her desk that reached all the way to the ceiling. Or maybe it was the bay window that looked out at the same pond I saw upon entering the room.

Thank you for coming, Addison, and let’s start by you telling me what made you decide to call St. Francis?

I might have a big mouth, but I didn’t like talking about myself. However, when I did, nobody would enjoy a laugh better than I would. If I didn’t find the humor in my trials and tribulations, I would probably hold the record for the most tears lost in one person’s life. So, to keep it light, I explained that I was a single mom of three and would like to change my major and complete a degree with the credits I had already earned from a state university.

She asked what school, and it turned out that they did accept transfers. So I passed my first little hurdle. I thought my next question to get answered would be about finances, but Miss Lori wanted to know what work experience I had. That was another bucket of tears, but tears of joy. I explained how I had spent the past seven years at a high school, working with at-risk kids and coaching the varsity dance team, making decent money. I changed jobs when a friend with MS was afraid she was going to lose her job as a supervisor of a small manufacturing firm. Her boss, the owner of the factory, was very hard on her; and if her health altered, she feared he’d fire her and she would have no insurance. Her boss was unaware of her medical situation, but she felt she was starting to debilitate, and her boss might start noticing. Now that I had completed that, I felt I was ready to finish my degree. I wasn’t trying to be evasive with my answers, but I didn’t really want to divulge secrets of people’s lives that had touched mine. So many times, people had poured their stories out to me; and, invariably, I was somehow able to help their situation. I was an ordinary person to whom extraordinary things happened, and I looked upon this as a gift or blessing from God. Who would understand that or believe it? I feared that if I told other people, these extraordinary things would quit happening. So I wanted to study God, Jesus, and all aspects of every religion. Hopefully, I could then quit driving myself crazy with questions, the most important being Is God even real?

Miss Lori looked at me—no, through me—and said, You need to call my husband; he’s the director of a nursing home here in town, and I think he could use you. I knew my face expressed the horrible visions that went racing through my head of my one short stint in a nursing home. The gross negligence at that first facility was one of the reasons I left, but the main reason I left was Charlie.

Flashbacks went racing through my mind. The first one racing before my eyes was getting my CNA on-the-job training at a small hospital. I took vitals and the basics that they