To many people, Lower Wacker Drive is downtown’s dark and dangerous underbelly–a speedy shortcut tunnel through the Loop with split-second merge lanes not for faint-of-heart drivers.
But for the hearts of Eddie “Bo” Harris, 35, and Chandra “Tweety” Almond, 32, it was the tunnel of love. Because of it, they are taking marriage vows Saturday.
Harris and Almond met as fellow homeless people huddling under their respective blankets and boxes through Lower Wacker winters; searching for heating grates to sleep on; and scavenging and scrapping metal to make money.
“I’d look out for her, give her food, and she’d do the same for me,” Harris said.
Then came the city’s sweep of Lower Wacker last December. Working with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Harris helped organize Lower Wacker’s homeless and march them into federal court to testify that city workers threw out their belongings. Almond searched out old acquaintances who could testify about city treatment of Lower Wacker residents. That class-action suit against the city still is pending.
As Harris and Almond worked together on that project and another to get government jobs for the homeless to help on Lower Wacker reconstruction projects, they began to look at each other as more than fellow travelers.
They became boyfriend and girlfriend on Christmas Day. The day after Valentine’s Day, Almond asked Harris, “What would I do if I asked you to marry me?” Harris was dumbfounded. He thought when the time came, he would ask her. But Harris jumped at the chance.
Saturday is the magic day. Surrounded by their friends–some homeless, some formerly homeless–in front of Buckingham Fountain, Harris and Almond will proclaim their eternal love for each other.
John Donahue, a former Catholic priest who is executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, will officiate. Technically, it will be a “ceremony of commitment,” not a legal wedding. That must wait a few weeks, until Harris’ divorce from his first wife, is final, he says.
The wedding comes as both people are getting their lives back on track. Both are living at the Austin YMCA. Harris is employed as an organizer for the homeless coalition, and he just returned from a rally in Washington, D.C. Almond is a volunteer training for what she hopes will be eventual employment working for the homeless. She will be speaking at the United Nations about homelessness next month.
Rene Heybach, an attorney who directs the coalition’s law project, will serve as maid of honor. She held a bridal shower for Almond over tea at the Drake Hotel. The coalition’s lead organizer, Ed Shurna, will serve as best man.
“We’re marrying each other, but we’re really marrying the coalition,” Harris said.
