Traveling's greatest gifts are the people you meet

My family has always loved to travel.

Whether it was camping trips, a road trip to the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal or a drive to the Black Hills to see relatives, we could put some miles on the family car.

My dad was exposed early to international travelers.

The family farm hosted agricultural exchange visitors from France and India. My dad served in Japan during the Korean War, so he’d seen a far flung part of the world, and befriended a family there who later sent a daughter to live with us one summer.

Traveling introduces you to different areas of the world, but one of the greatest gifts is encountering interesting people, who invariably give you the memories you recall most.

Which brings us to “The Chach.”

On a recent visit to Chicago to visit a European-style Christmas Market (much cheaper than jumping on an eight-hour plane ride across the Atlantic), we were in search of supper. 

Our smart phones told us that just a couple of blocks away was a restaurant that featured deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza, something the city is known for.

Soon after being ushered to a booth in the back of the place, a short, stooped-over, 70ish man waddled up to the table, informing us that we were “in luck” because he was famous.

“Just Google it. ‘The Chach,’” he said. “I’ve been here for 40 years. People from all over the world come to see me.”

Quite an introduction from a gruff-looking guy whose back was bent over, presumably, by decades of hoisting plates of pizza and pasta.

Sure enough, if you Google “The Chach,” you find out that he’s an icon in downtown Chicago, a famed dispenser of relationship advice and life philosophies, who takes credit for helping successfully pair nearly 300 couples.

“I’m a life changer,” he said.

Over maybe 90 minutes at Pizano’s pizza and Pasta, we learned that Joe “The Chach” Chacho had been mentored by 10 Greek and Sicilian aunts who gave him a yearly quiz on life lessons they’d related to him over the dinner table.

“Be yourself,” The Chach said, “because everyone else is taken.”

“Live in the moment,” he advised, because you never know what the future might hold.

“Lead with goodness and kindness.”

When listening, make sure you’re looking at who is speaking.

The Chach poured out his life story and his guiding philosophies as he leaned over our table. 

We learned that he was a Nebraska football fan as he rattled off names of some of the star Huskers of the past, Jerry Tagge, Jeff Kinney, Johnny Rogers.

He used to sing in the choir at old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago; used to work two jobs, a city job during the day and as a waiter at night; he now works five nights a week, and takes the bus to and from the restaurant.

We also learned that The Chach had been “left at the altar” by one loved one and had given up on finding a spouse in his 50s, though he didn’t express one breath of regret. “I have the biggest family in the world,” he said, referring to his many fans and customers.

As he spoke, he autographed the sheet of paper covering our table: “The Chach. God Bless the Huskers. La Familia forever.”

Not everyone gets to join La Familia, The Chach explained.

Some people are “un-Chachifiable,” some are pieces of “you know what,” he said. 

We just sat mesmerized listening to his rapid-fire, entertaining monologue that continued long after our pizza was delivered to our table. “Chachification,” is what he calls it.

Once, his performance was interrupted by a middle-aged woman, who had stopped to say “hello” to the legendary waiter. Another time, The Chach excused himself so he could go sing “Happy Birthday” at a table across the room.

There were plenty of sights to see in Chicago, some great shows and some shops you can’t find around here.

But it’s the people, not the places, that are most memorable, including one incredible new friend, “The Chach.”

Paul Hammel has covered the Nebraska state government and the state for decades. He retired in April as senior contributor with the Nebraska Examiner.