THIS HAPPENED TO ME| UMBRELLA STORIES| WRITING CHALLENGE
The Ill-Fated Umbrella of Lakeshore Drive
It didn’t stand a chance against what was about to happen
I remember that day like it was yesterday. We were trying to beat a storm home after spending the day downtown. Normally, we would’ve taken the train back since it was faster and we lived right on the Brown Line in Chicago.
On this day, we wanted to take a more scenic route and see places along the lake we hadn’t seen yet. We ended up taking the bus down Lakeshore Drive. If you’ve ever been to Chicago, you know how captivating the view can be on both sides of you.
On your right, you have beautiful Lake Michigan and many of Chicago’s beautiful beaches and parks among other landmarks. On your left, you have towering buildings and historic sites to visit. On this day, we took it all on but we were only interested in making it home before it started to storm. We had no idea what we were about to be in for.
We got off the bus right at the major street that crossed the famous road that led directly to our house. From there, we’d have to wait for another bus to pick us up to take us the rest of the way. With that layover, we didn’t expect what was about to happen next. It started raining.
We had our sturdy, durable umbrella with us. It was a nice one that I’d bought in California because I didn’t know what kind of weather we would expect when we found out we were moving to Chicago. I needed something dependable to guard my partner and me from the elements. I knew Chicago was nicknamed “The Windy City” and we were about to find out one of the reasons. If you’ve ever been right by the lakeshore during certain storms, I think you can anticipate what happened next.
The wind and heavy rain swept through and engulfed us before we knew it. The umbrella was trying its hardest but its efforts were futile against this. The wind gusts must’ve exceeded 60–80 miles per hour. We were hanging on to that umbrella for dear life. But it was not meant to be. First, it bowed, then broke, and then we lost our handle on it. Just like many umbrellas before it in the Lakeshore Drive area, the umbrella had succumbed to the elements.
A fractured and wind-swept memory of what it once was. My partner and I were cold and getting soaked with much anxiety and panic in our hearts as we had nothing to defend ourselves from getting drenched and possibly sick from being exposed to this for too long. We decided at that point, without an umbrella, the bus would be an impossible trek and we would feel embarrassed being defeated by the elements.
We decided to go ahead and call an Uber even though we felt like we would soak someone else’s car in the process. What else were we going to do at that point? We got in the car and tried our best to keep our seats as dry as possible.
We profusely apologized for our dampness outside of our control. We even tipped well. But we sure did have a story to tell and told our driver how we lost our umbrella. “Well, yeah, that’s the Windy City for you. These sudden storms can get you if you’re not careful. You two must not be from here.”
He was right, we weren’t.
“Yeah, these things rarely hit you in California. I’ll know to plan better next time and maybe not go to the lake when it’s supposed to storm.” He dropped us off and by the time we got home about 15–20 minutes later, the rain had calmed down to a sprinkle in our neighborhood and we no longer needed the umbrella.
My lesson here? I guess, it’s that if you go to Chicago near the lake during a storm, prepare to lose an umbrella or just plan better. You don’t want to get caught and get drenched when it’s avoidable. Plus, we should’ve taken the Brown Line home. It would’ve saved us time and a headache.
