MORNING
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Father’s Day, and, for this fantasy, let’s say the world-traveling, nearly 21-year-old son has found a way back for the weekend from Australia.
Dad makes pancakes, bacon and cut-up fruit for breakfast because he likes to. The groggy son, his sleepy 18-year-old sister and their mother (the love of Dad’s life) are pretty much fully awake by the end of the meal.
Quick showers, then it’s out the door. First, a stop at Minas TV & Video at 6137 N. Clark St. (773-764-0726) to drop off a DVD of “The Cream of Eric Clapton,” which Dad and, at various times, other family members watched the night before. Then, St. Gertrude Catholic Church at 1420 W. Granville Ave. (773-764-3621) for mass and a lively, literate homily by the soon-to-retire pastor, Rev. William Kenneally, complete with references to Mahler, A.J. Pierzynski, Seamus Heaney and the pastor’s late dog, Buddy.
AFTERNOON
Lunch of thick cheeseburgers and thick, greasy french fries at an outdoor table at Moody’s Pub, a robust relic of the 1960s at 5910 N. Broadway (773-784-8616).
Then, downtown, to the Art Institute of Chicago at 111 S. Michigan Ave. (312-443-3600), where Mom and daughter get wrapped up in Renoir’s “On the Terrace” while Dad and son examine Edouard Manet in all his sartorial splendor in the portrait by Henri Fantin-Latour.
EVENING
After a few quiet hours, a family stroll south along Clark Street, past the taquerias, a Starbucks, nail salons, a health club, groceries, a child-care center, drugstores, dollar stores, a bagel shop and bakeries to the Women & Children First bookstore at 5233 N. Clark St. (773-769-9299), where Dad picks up a copy of “My Mother’s Wedding Dress: The Life and Afterlife of Clothes” by Justine Picardie, a sort of memoir told through clothing. Then, a block north to Andies Restaurant at 5353 N. Clark St. (773-784-8616), a spacious, well-appointed, Middle Eastern place that boasts tasty food and hearty portions and that Dad and Mom used to patronize when it was in a much smaller, much more humble space.
The mile-long walk home, and, with energy restored, the family sits at the kitchen table for a long game of gin rummy. Dad loses but has no complaints.