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The Launching Pad, Route 66, Wilmington, IL (2026)

10/13/2026

YOU DON'T GET OVER IT.

YOU JUST LEARN TO CARRY IT.

People think grief is a funeral. It's not.

Grief is hearing their song in a grocery store and having to walk out to your car so nobody sees you fall apart.

It's finding their handwriting on an old birthday card and tracing it with your finger because it's the closest thing to touching them again.

It's laughing at something and instantly feeling guilty — because how dare you laugh when they're not here to laugh with you.

They told me time heals. That's a lie people tell because they don't know what else to say.

Time doesn't heal. Time just teaches you how to breathe with a hole in your chest.

I would give every single thing I own for five more minutes. Not a big reunion. Not some miracle. Just five minutes. To hear that voice. To say the thing I didn't say. To say "I love you" one more time like I meant it, because now I know what "one more time" really means.

You think you'll have tomorrow. You won't always.

So tonight — tonight — call the person.

Forgive the stupid fight. Drive the extra miles. Hold the hug three seconds longer.
Don't you dare let the last time be just another time you didn't know was the last time.

Because when that voice goes silent, it stays silent forever — and you'll spend the rest of your life listening for an echo in a world that will never sound the same again.

10/13/2026

STOP and read this with your heart, not just your eyes.

It's difficult in this day and age to stay human.

We are bombarded by news 24/7 until we don't even feel it the way we used to. We've been desensitized just trying to survive the noise.

Everyone is talking. Hardly anyone is listening.

We don't need more words.

We need wisdom.

We need our hearts back.

I've had a handful of real relationships in my lifetime in love, family, and work. Some I walked away from. Some walked away from me. Some fizzled out so fast I should've gotten a participation trophy just for showing up.

Am I grateful for every single one of them?

Yes.

Obviously some more than others. One or two I'm grateful for from a safe and healthy distance, preferably with a fence and a good insurance policy.

Here is the truth that could've saved you and me years of tears: Do not judge your entire life by one painful scene. A hard chapter does not mean a ruined story.

You don't see the full movie until the end.

What if every no was protection?

What if every closed door was life quietly saying, I have better for you, hold on?

I spent too many nights staring at the ceiling taking it personal, asking what's wrong with me, like I was starring in my own sad country song.

So let me drill this into you: There is nothing wrong with you. This is not happening to you. This is happening for you.

So get up. Let yourself feel again in a world trying to make you numb. Wipe your face, straighten your crown, find your laugh, and keep going.

I have been knocked flat more times than I can count and I keep getting back up. A little wiser. A little funnier. Still standing. Still believing.

Now burn this into your soul for the rest of your life: The loves you lost, the family rifts, the jobs that didn't work out, none of them get the final word on your worth.

You are still becoming.

Your greatest chapter has not been written yet.

It ain't easy, but it's worth it.

The church is beautiful on the outside. The true beauty comes from within.

If this woke something up in you, share it. Someone you love needs it today.

10/12/2026

We humans tend to worry most about money.

I'm human — I get it.

Mortgage or rent, car payments, loans, utilities, insurance, gasoline, food... the list goes on and on.

I have friends who've done really well for themselves, you'd call them wealthy. I have friends who struggle. I respect every one of them.

That's why I try to never discuss politics, religion, or money.

But when money does come up, I always have my boilerplate deadpan reply ready:

"Yeah, let's talk money... Don't worry, I started with nothing and I still have most of it!"

Believe me, that changes the topic real quick. 😄

All joking aside — we're all just figuring it out as we go.

A little laughter makes the heavy stuff lighter.

Chase the almighty dollar and you'll never catch your breath — it'll always leave you wanting one more.

Chase peace and purpose instead.

A full heart always wins and that's the kind of wealth that actually lasts.

👆✅

10/12/2026

Yesterday was a good day.

Actually, yesterday was a fine, fine day.

Started with a great cup of coffee, sun shining, and I walked into church palms up.

My heart was just beating with happiness.

Then I headed out to Wilmington to spend a little extra time with Ray.

I brought Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sixteen pieces with three sides for $56. I almost asked if the Colonel was going to come out and serve it himself for that price, but I will tell you what, it was worth every penny because Ray really enjoyed it. And that made my whole trip.

On the way I got a text from a Launching Pad friend and fan. They were over at the Giant. I was only about 15 minutes out from Ray, so I swung by, said hi, grabbed some pictures and caught up.

Paul has been a longtime supporter and friend of the restaurant and the Gemini Giant. He is good in my book, all the way around.

I tried to watch the Bears but I could not sit there and watch them get their behinds kicked anymore, so I headed home and finished my afternoon the best way I know how.

I went back to the nature center at Pilcher Park and just walked through the forest. I cannot tell you how grounding and amazing that felt. Just trees, quiet, and room to breathe. Amazing company always helps.

By the end of the day I was full in every way. Physically, emotionally, heart full.

The car got to stretch its legs on a beautiful drive.

I got to spend time with a wonderful friend and a bunch of friends throughout the day.

Then Zander and I finished up Mr. Inbetween. That final episode was epic. We just looked at each other in complete awe.

Man, yesterday was much needed.

Pulling into the driveway, lawn mowed and edged by the landscapers, that was the extra cherry on top.

No worries.

I just laid in bed last night with a big smile on my face thinking about what a blessed day it was.

Palms up. Open heart. Accepting anything and everything that comes my way with gratitude.

We spend so much of our lives chasing the big moments, and then a day like yesterday reminds you. It is coffee in the morning. It is chicken shared with a friend. It is trees. It is people who still show up. It’s the rumble of a big V8 engine with the top down on a sunny day. .

That is the good stuff.

That is what fills you up.

If you get a fine, fine day today, do not waste
It.

Live In It ☀️

Tully 🚀🚀🚀

10/12/2026

LOVE ISN'T SAFE.

It was never meant to be.

It's taking your own heart — bare, beating, unguarded — and placing it in the hands of another, knowing they could hold it like it's sacred or crush it and leave you wounded. That's the risk that makes it real.

We were never designed to walk this world alone.

I've always gravitated towards the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz for this reason.

Here's a guy who spent his whole life thinking he didn't have a heart, when all along he had the biggest one of them all. He just had to walk the whole Yellow Brick Road and go through hell to discover it. That's love.

I've lived long enough to know — single people wanna be married, and married people wanna be single. We all live on the cusp of permanent inconsistency, where there is no right or wrong answer, only the season you're in.

One day life hands you a choice: Stand alone or stand with somebody. Sometimes alone makes you stronger. Sometimes together makes you better. Both will make you grow.

But either way, you're gonna have to roll the dice. You gotta know when to roll them, hope love rolls back to you, and bleed for the chance that it'll be worth it.

Because love is one of those profound moments where you can lose everything or gain everything.

As that old 10cc song says so perfectly:

"Like walking in the rain and the snow / When there's nowhere to go / When you're feelin' like a part of you is dying"
You think you're gonna break up, then she says she wants to make up.

You take the chance. You pay the price.

And it's no coincidence that LOVE is a four letter word and so is WORK. Love requires work. And you have to work for love.

That's just the things we do for love.

It was never for the timid. It's for those with enough heart to bet it all anyway.

And if you ask me, what I've written above is the closest definition I could ever give for what love truly means.

Tully

10/11/2026

This is my stepbrother Billy.

This picture is us at my father's memorial service back in May 2017. His arm around me, mine around him.

Two brothers who kept promising we were going to do better at being brothers.

For years we said I would drive up to Green Bay, Wisconsin and we would hang out. Spend the weekend, catch up, really get to know each other and bond as brothers.

There was always a reason to wait. Too cold or too hot. Too busy or too tired.

Then one day I was just sitting there eating pizza when I got the phone call. Billy had passed.

Weddings and funerals, my friends. That's where you always hear it: "We need to get together."

And I am certain that in that moment, we mean it with all our hearts.

Then one day comes when you can't. And regret fills your heart.

Billy popped up on my timeline today. Today should have been his birthday. He passed away two years ago.

In the last 10 years I've lost a stepbrother and a stepsister.

My sister and my brothers are still alive and well, but I keep coming back to that question we all ask: when are we all going to get together sometime?

My take is this?

We live in a different world now where we think we have all the time in the world, like we're going to be here forever.

We aren't…

You either make things happen, or you stay passive and pretend things will happen on their own.

The choice is yours.

Happy birthday in heaven, Billy.

Billy I never got my weekend in Green Bay with you.

Don't miss your weekend with whoever your Billy is.

Don't save your love for the eulogy.

💙

10/10/2026

It is true — Coach passed yesterday, Friday Oct. 9th at 86. His family announced it.

Truth be told, I've never been a big sports fan but wait....

Yesterday we lost a legend. Chicago Bears player and coach Mike Ditka passed away at 86.

A lot of people will reflect on his career — the Hall of Famer who revolutionized tight end, the coach who took our 1985 Bears to a Super Bowl championship.

I watched that. Who didn't? DA BEARS.

But the real sadness in our house is a little different.

When my boys were young we had our cool man-cave garage. We'd watch DVDs and eat snack-snacks.

One of my boys' all-time favorites was KICKING AND SCREAMING. Grade school soccer rivalry. Will Ferrell coaching one team, and of course Mike Ditka coaching the other.

For all those years, my boys never knew Mike Ditka as anything other than "the soccer coach from Kicking and Screaming."

I was sad yesterday hearing the news. Went to bed a little melancholy. 86 years, well lived. Look at all the success and positivity he brought to this world.

My son Tyler went out to Jewel — which is a store here in the Midwest — to grab some food after I went to bed.

I woke up this morning and in the kitchen was this Jewel bag. Chicago Bears colors. DA BEARS 🐻

I teared up so quickly.

One, for the loss of Ditka.

And two, because my boy saw that bag at Jewel and immediately bought it and brought it home and hung it up in the kitchen.

We all have ways that we feel sadness and grief. His was to buy a little shopping bag — giving a shout out to Coach Ditka, and also giving a shout out to a wonderful childhood he had in the garage with the boys watching DVDs and especially KICKING AND SCREAMING.

Rest well, Coach. Thanks for the memories on the field, and thanks for the memories in our garage.

Tully & The Boys

10/09/2026

After a few trips around the sun, here's what I've learned:

That sign in the antique shop says it all:

"The item you saw today and want to think about tonight, will be sold later today to the people who saw it yesterday, and thought about it last night."

That's not about antiques. That's about LIFE.

The opportunity you keep sleeping on...

The words you keep holding in...

The chance you keep saying "maybe tomorrow" to...

Someone else saw it yesterday — and they're taking it today.

So let me tell you like a friend who's learned the hard way:

If you want it, go get it.

If you love them, tell them.

If it's on your heart, do it NOW.

Don't let life sit on your plate until it gets cold.

Tomorrow is not promised. But the regret of not trying?

That lasts a long, long time…

Tully 🚀🚀🚀

10/08/2026

LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN 😆

Woke up way too early this morning.

Looked outside and it was another one of those perfect fall days. And I told myself I'm not gonna roll the Dice and wait for MORE perfect days.

Today IS the day.

So I pointed the car top-down and headed to Wilmington.

First stop, Mimi's Café. Grabbed my favorite coffee and a panini sandwich. If you know, you know.

Spent a little time with Ray today. Good visit. I'll be out there Sunday to watch the football game and this time I'm bringing the food. I told him Kentucky Fried Chicken — coleslaw, mashed potatoes, and biscuits. He said "we'll eat like kings." I said "cheers." That's our plan.

Then I took that panini out to South Island Park and just hung out by the Giant with my coffee. Just sitting, sipping, enjoying the day. No agenda. Just this weather. It was perfect.

I actually had a perfect story written that I posted a few minutes ago and it somehow disappeared. P**f. Gone. Facebook ate it. And honestly, I'm too tired to try and re-write the great American novel again. So today the pictures will do the talking.

They have some new reader boards up around the Giant now telling the history in Wilmington and man, they look fantastic. Whoever is doing that work, you are doing a wonderful job. It really shows.

It's funny, I'm sitting there looking at the Giant who has stood there forever, and I'm thinking about how many perfect days I told myself I'd wait for. Tomorrow will be better. Next week will be better. When I'm healed more. When I have more energy. When...

And then you get a day like today and you realize you can't wait for life to be perfect to live it.

You have to put the top down, even if your hair looks ridiculous. You have to get the coffee, even if you spill it. You have to bring the chicken, even if you forgot the napkins.

Today was just coffee, a panini, Ray, and the Giant.

And it was enough. It was more than enough!

Tully 🚀🚀🚀

10/08/2026

TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW.

Just me and my son Zander.

No friends. No distractions. Just us.

He's 19. He doesn't have to say yes to two late nights downtown with his dad.

But he did.

He talked me into it again.

Night two: Sweet Pill at Thalia Hall. Philly band. Killer set. Full house. Loud, beautiful, proper rock show in the most beautiful room in Chicago.

We started early.

Walked Chinatown. A few blocks up, like you're supposed to. Hit Joey's on the South Side on the way. Red stools. Chicago flag on the wall.

Blue t-shirt turned backwards because he won't let me take his picture.

That's our game. I lift my phone, he spins. He lifts his, my hand goes up. No good photos. All laughs.

If you grew up here, you know this next part. This is my family tradition growing up as a young boy.

Once a month. Sunday night. My parents drove us down to 22nd and Cermak to the Famous Won Kow. 2237 S. Wentworth. Built in 1927 just to be Won Kow. Opened in 1928. 90 years. Family-run. The oldest Chinese restaurant in Chicago.

February 2018. I was there with my family for the last night. Nine years ago. Every seat full. Doors shut. I thought that was the end.

Last night walking through Chinatown before they show I look over and it's open again. Same building. Same big Famous sign out front. Different name now, same soul.

And those stairs.

You know the ones. That long, steep climb that feels like a mountain when you're a little kid.

I had to climb them!

Halfway up I was a little kid again, both hands on the railing, my dad saying "slow down."

Last night I'm holding the same railing and my 19-year-old son behind me is telling ME I'm doing it wrong.

That's when it hit me.

Doors don't close the way we think. They wait.

Neighborhoods come back. Buildings come back. The music comes back louder.

If you're lucky, you get to climb the same stairs twice in one life — once as the son, once as the father.

My parents took me to Chinatown to show me the world was bigger than our block.

I'm taking my son to Thalia Hall to show him this city is still ours.

According to him, everything I do is wrong. He's 19. He knows everything. Like he should.

That's the job at 19. Know everything.

That's the job as a dad. Let him. And be there anyway.

So here's the lesson from two nights:

SAY YES. Even tired. Especially tired.

Say yes when your kid asks for another night. Those yeses ARE the whole life.

GO BACK. On purpose.

Bring your kid to the places that raised you.

Let the past sit next to the present.

SHOW UP. This is the politics. Cities don't survive on slogans. They survive on footsteps.

Chinatown survives when we walk a few blocks up and eat there.

Thalia Hall survives when we buy the ticket and pack the house.

Joey's Hot Dogs survives when we stop on the South Side on the way to the City.

That's how you keep Chicago alive.

Beautiful night in Chicago. Great band. Great hall. Great food.

Old memory. New memory.

Me and my son.

Standing side by side.

You want to figure life out?

I have Figured that out.

Show up for your kid. Show up for your city.

Show up for the band that drove from Philly to blow the roof off.

Zayna brought the house down.

Zander and I walked home through a neighborhood that refused to die.

Being a father, to a young boy who thinks he knows everything and I know nothing?

Absolutely priceless ❤️

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The Launching Pad

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