This saying was used by MK’s grandmother very often:

Whenever leaving MK’s grandmother’s house, she would say, “…Now go straight home and don’t stop at O’Hare’s unless you’re taking me with.”

This phrase was said by MK’s grandmother every single time they left her house, and MK remembers that she would lean against the door frame the same way every time and talk about how they should visit her again, ending with the same phrase without fail. This phrase means almost exactly as it is said, but essentially means that she hopes MK will get home quickly and safely, without stopping anywhere extra to distract her on the way back. The phrase mentions O’Hare’s, a bar she frequented in her younger days, not to be confused with the Chicago airport of the same name. It is one of MK’s most vivid memories of her grandmother, who she called Sittie. Sittie is Lebanese for grandma, and has been passed through several generations as MK’s family is part Lebanese.

This phrase represents Sittie’s personality and essence to MK, and highlights the type of person she is, even after she had gotten far too old to go back to O’Hare’s for a drink. This phrase is only for use within MK’s family, for those who knew Sittie, and allows Sittie a spot within the family, even after she passed away. Her memory as an effortlessly funny personality that could light up a room while simultaneously seeming a little grumpy culminated in this quip she would say every time MK left her house. Despite being far too old for it, all Sittie really wanted was a good drink at O’Hare’s, right up until the end. After Sittie passed, it also gained an extra meaning, not stopping at O’Hare’s meant Sittie could watch over one’s journey back home as long as they didn’t break her wish and get a drink. Her shift to the guardian of the family, but a petty guardian who still didn’t want to be left out, was a way to honor her life and importance to her family and let some humor back into a death that was devastating to the entire family, what Sittie would have wanted. Despite her no longer being alive, her words still tie the family together and offer protection to the next generation of MK’s family that Sittie never got to see grow up. Despite this, the phrase is still used from time to time, years and years after her death, as a show of familial ties.