For years, I have followed a FaceBook page called Vanished Chicagoland. Pete Kastanes, who had 225.000 followers, was a humble guy who captured the attention of so many of us who grew up in the Windy City. In fact, I looked forward to his posts. These examples probably don’t mean much to folks who didn’t grow up in in or near Chicago, but there were posts on the North Shore mansions, the Magikist “lips” on a billboard that advertised a rug cleaning business and Empire Carpets at 588-2300. The Magikist sign was universally thought of as a welcome home sign that meant those returning to Chicago were getting close to their destination. It is indelibly imprinted on my brain from my years of passing it as a youngster as we were returning home from visiting relatives in the northern suburbs.
Riverview amusement park, Kiddieland (Janet and I went on a date there) and so many other famous Chicago landmarks were also frequently the subject of Pete’s posts. It’s just a wonderful FB page. Anyway, Pete made no secret of the fact that he was fighting prostate cancer. He was diagnosed back in 2019 and fought a very public battle, constantly thanking his readers for their care and concern, as well as thanking us for our prayers. In fact, I have prayed for Pete many times.
Several weeks ago, Pete wrote a post from his hospital bed in Oak Lawn, near the southwest side of Chicago. He told us his cancer had spread and that he didn’t have much time left. The next day he passed away. This was a huge shock to his readers and another site, Chicago History, has dedicated their page to Pete’s memory. It was a grand gesture. I couldn’t help but admire the way that Pete handled the end of his earthly life.
I never met Pete personally but he was a real symbol of the city. He was kind, humble, honest, a history nerd and he certainly knew how to reach and connect with those who are from Chicago. I will miss him.
One of the things that I remember most about my childhood in Chicago is a sign in front of the Morton Salt Company facing the Kennedy Expressway. It was an image of their brand – a girl in a raincoat and boots, carrying an umbrella, with their slogan, “When It Rains, It Pours.” As a young boy, I never knew the double meaning of the slogan.
As many of us know, salt tends to clump up when there is moisture in the air… That’s why some restaurants add rice to the salt in their shakers – to dry out the salt so it will pour. But Morton salt continued to pour even in the most extreme moisture conditions and that is what it was famous for! On the other hand, we are all familiar with the other time we use, “When it rains, it pours” – and that is when things just pile up and go wrong – one after another.
Pete certainly experienced that the last several days of his life. Nothing was going right, yet Pete took it all in stride. He was very upfront about what was happening. In fact, he died in the same hospital my grandfather was at when he passed in 1972. It brought back some painful memories and hit close to home. It’s a small world.
On a similar note, although thankfully on a much smaller scale, TBTB has been experiencing the same thing for the past several weeks. First of all, our site experienced a loss of service that connected our posts to social media and sends emails to those who have signed up to receive their post in their inbox each time I write.
We thought the gremlins were gone and service was restored, only to find out that last Wednesday evening, all the websites hosted at our provider were down! The servers that house many websites were hacked and everyone’s service went down… I don’t know if a ransom was paid or how it was all resolved but by the time it was resolved, it was too late to post Thursday.
To be sure, I had already written a post for that evening, but it was lost in the attack.. I’ll probably re-write it for this coming Thursday. There was absolutely nothing I could do about my inability to post. I always worry that it will negatively affect my reputation but there was no way I could reach out to the group of folks who read each time I write. I should take to heart the common adage, “God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference.”
Pete’s final week was also a great reminder that there are things we just can’t control. Yet Pete took it all in stride and did the best he could. As empty as it felt, the best I can do is to let you know that I also did the best I could. Please know that I try to never miss a posting day. If I do, it’s beyond my ability to control.
Tonight’s verse comes from the Gospel of Matthew, one of the disciples. Matthew tells us the words of Jesus, in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” That’s great advice.
My encouragement this evening is that there are only so many things we can even try to control. After all, God is in charge – period. My prayer is that we can accept the twists and turns that come our way in the ordinary days of our lives. Furthermore, that we can live our lives with a God centered attitude, as Pete Kastanes did. Rest in Peace, Pete, and to all of you – Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…