April 23rd

This week, Dylan and I visited with Jerry at his apartment for a little while before heading to Andersonville for lunch. We ate at a restaurant called Hamburger Mary's which Jerry had been raving about for the past few weeks. The burgers definitely lived up to the hype. One burger in particular was a patty in between two separate grilled cheese sandwiches....two of them. So as you can imagine, we enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, we stopped by a few furniture shops and then topped the day off with very depressing visit to a pet store. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty successful day. However, there was a sense of sadness for the duration of our visit with Jerry. We didn't engage in our usual give-and-take comedy routines. Perhaps, it was due to the fact that it was our last meeting with him. Hopefully everything will be back to normal on Thursday. Looking forward to it.

Alrik


This week was a sad week for the three of us because it was the last time we all could do something together aside from the final party. This week we were excited to venture to a restaurant that Jerry loves to go to, Hamburger Mary's in Andersonville. This place had exquisite burgers that you probably cannot find anywhere else. For instance I had a burger in between two massive grilled cheese sandwiches. After we ate, we decided to walk the huge meal we consumed off in Andersonville. Jerry always talks about the brown elephant so we stopped in there for a bit to look at furniture. After the brown elephant we went to a couple other antique shops and a "pet store", that did not bring us any joy... In the end it was a great day with Jerry but it was clear to see that he was upset that this was our last meeting. Since I will be around Chicago I believe that I will try to meet up with Jerry a couple times throughout the summer. I know he will be happy to hear that.

-Dylan 

April 9

This week we were actually able to meet with Jerry! We started the morning by swinging by McDonalds for some breakfast sandwiches and coffees then went to Jerry's house. Today was a lot of catching up and checking in. Jerry loves to hear about what is going on with our job search and always gives us his views and background experiences, which is helpful. As always there is a crazy story that Jerry tells us that we cannot believe happened. This week I was telling Jerry about my research paper on Watergate and it instantly sparked a story. Jerry told us about how he and a couple friends had ventured near the Kennedy compound and how all of a sudden an combat truck pulled up with 18 armed men on top, which followed them out for about 3 miles. Jerry said that it was unbelievable but as always, talked about it in a very light manner. Later on we spoke about his past cars and all the bells an whistles they had.
As our time came to an end Jerry asked about how many more sessions we had together. After we told him the number, we could see he was sad to hear the news. Alrik and I both know that we have had an impact on him and we are going to attempt to stay in touch after the program is over.

-Dylan

April 2

Unfortunately, Dylan and I were unable to meet with Jerry last week. We left our apartment Thursday morning prepared to meet him, but realized that Dylan's car was not in its supposed location. After throwing around a few scenarios, we discovered that the car had been towed by the wonderful management team of Silver Properties Group (our building complex). So instead of enjoying some good conversation with Jerry, Dylan and I had the pleasure of taking an Uber to the cesspool that is Lincoln Towing. Fortunately, we successfully retrieved the car with no casualties. If all goes smoothly for us this week, we will go out for some burgers with Jerry on Thursday. Fingers crossed.

Alrik

Adventures With Jerry 3-26

Hey Ladies and Gents,

Today was another eventful moment in the adventures of Alrik and Dylan meet Jerry. We went out to the Swedish American Museum in Anderson to take a tour of Jerry and Alrik's lineage. This was Alrik and I's first time at the museum, so we got to see exactly how the Swedish American community formed here in Chicago. We learned about all the places that swedes settled as they came to America and learned a little about the origins of North Park. Although the museum was small we learned that Walgreens was created by a Swede, North Park's Old Main was at one time the tallest building, and got to see a sample of the immigrant name list. After we went through the museum, we stopped by the gift shop and picked up some Swedish chocolate! Jerry has been looking for some new furniture so we ventured to a near by store to browse. After the store we went to Calo's in Andersonville for lunch and munched on some pizza together. Then Jerry mentioned that he wanted to go to the Swedish Bakery as well, so we stopped in there and sampled some cinnamon rolls and pistachio cakes. As we talked throughout the day Jerry told us stories about his brother Steve and the sacrifices Jerry made for him. Jerry dropped out of college so that Steve could go and their family could afford it. Alrik and I both saw that Jerry has a huge heart and loves his family dearly.
      Aside from that Jerry wants to take us to Mary's on Clark where the servers are predominately drag queens. As we have learned throughout our visits Jerry is apart of the Gay community throughout Chicago, which Alrik and I have not yet experienced. As for next week Jerry needs some help setting up his DVD player at his house and wants to go to Mary's for a bite to eat.
     Jerry truly is an amazing guy and really is invested in our lives because of this experience. I hope that we are able to continue this relationship beyond this class.

Until Next Week,

-Dylan

P.S. check out this photos...

As Dylan has already mentioned, last week we went to the Swedish Museum with Jerry. It was my first time visiting, and having a swedish heritage, I found it to be very interesting. It was very cool to hear Jerry's take on everything since his parents both immigrated to the United States from Sweden when they were only 18. He shared their story and new a lot about every exhibit. He grew up in Rockford, IL which the museum classified as one of the major Swedish immigrant hubs in the midwest. After the exhibit, we got robbed in the souvenir shop (the chocolate is outrageously priced). After the museum we decided to get lunch and chatted for a bit. Jerry provided us with great career advice that I will be sure to take with me after this program is over. This week we plan to go to one of Jerry's favorite restaurants. Looking forward to it.

Alrik

March 16th

This week Dylan and I picked Jerry up from his apartment and went to Tre Kronor despite his strong distaste for authentic Swedish food (it was his idea). I find this funny because I share a similar revulsion towards the food of my roots. However, we both enjoy Swedish pancakes, meatballs, and eggs so Tre Kronor isn't so bad. Pickled herring and korv turn us both off. My girlfriend was visiting on her Spring break so she was able to come with! She had already heard so much about Jerry from me beforehand so I was very excited for them to meet. She mentioned how funny and young he seemed with his quick wit and crazy stories. One story in particular involved Jerry dropping his kid brother off at the from steps of an orphanage (as a prank obviously) and driving around the block before going back to get him. I have come to realize that Jerry was and still is much cooler than Dylan and myself and probably would have found us boring if we grew up as peers. I am looking forward to our next meeting.

Alrik

Week March 16th:

This week we took Jerry to Tre Kroner for brunch! He is a Swede himself so he had to get Swedish Pancakes. This week we had Alriks girlfriend in town. Jerry knew that she was here and asked Alrik if he could meet her, so Gloria joined us for Brunch. As we all got caught up with what has been going on in our lives for the past few weeks, Jerry showed us this Newspaper article about a couple in Turkey. A few weeks ago we showed Jerry our pictures from our trip to Istanbul and the video of a riot that we experienced. This newspaper article was a story about an american couple that were imprisoned for 8 months in turkey for accidentally purchasing a high priority artifact in the Grand Bazar. Jerry said we should be glad that wasn't us hahah... Anyways, we had a great brunch with Jerry and we will be going shopping with Jerry next week.

- Dylan

Week 2

This week, Dylan and I spent our time with Jerry exchanging stories in his living room once again. We had planned to help Jerry pick out some new furniture, but the freezing temperatures stopped us. He shared many more exciting stories that further displayed his adventurous lifestyle when he was younger. Dylan spotted a book titled "Woodstock" on the coffee table which quickly led to Jerry sharing about his experiences there. Following this, he told us about a time where he and a group of 30 sum friends rented a bus and drove down to Colorado for a music festival. At the end of the trip, they bought out a liquor store of all their Coors products because it was only sold in-state at that time.  His stories and love for travel is inspiring. He emphasized the fact that Dylan and I need to take advantage of our ample time and energy while we can because at a certain point your opportunities dwindle. After sharing this, he seemed almost sad that he could no longer explore the globe but made it clear that he has lived a good life. With this being said, I believe Jerry's advice to capitalize on your youth and do what you love while you can is very important. Perhaps depression later in life stems from the realization that you can longer do certain things that were once possible in your youth,

Alrik