TINLEY PARK, Illinois, U.S.A. – In this Chicago suburb, there’s a house that leaves Cubs fans speechless.
The Chicago Cubs, playing in the 2016 World Series for the first time since 1945, are competing with the Cleveland Indians for baseball’s top prize. The series, which began Oct. 25 in Cleveland, will include as many as seven games. The champion is the team that wins four out of seven games. 
Each team has won a game, so the Series is tied. Game 3 is at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Friday, Oct. 28.
The house in Tinley Park the home of the Vandewiel family.
Kristi Vandewiel said her dad, Ron Vandewiel, is a born Cubs fan and the top decorator of what’s known as the Number 1 Cubs Fans’ home.
Vandewiel decorated his yard at the beginning of the playoffs, his daughter said, not yet knowing that the Cubs would make it into the World Series.
A large sign hanging on the side of the house pays homage to Harry Caray, a longtime bespectacled Cubs announcer who loved to say “Holy Cow!” (Diana Awawdeh/YJI)
“He knew this year is different,” she said. “He even made a shirt at the end of last year’s season that says, ‘Wait till next year.’”
The Vandewiel’s whole yard is decorated, with a big flag that states, “Holy Cow,” a famous quote by the late Harry Caray, a longtime Cubs broadcaster who predicted that the team would one day again play in the World Series.
The fence is also decorated with handmade jerseys of every player from the Cubs including number 70 for manager Joe Maddon. The fence has LED lights that glow a Cubbie blue at night to illuminate the jerseys.
The porch in their back yard is also decorated with Cubs flags and garlands.
The back of the house boasts decorations in the windows and on the deck. (Diana Awawdeh/YJI)
Vandewiel, who is a student at Benedictine University in nearby Lisle, Illinois, said her dad has a great feeling this year for the Cubs. He was born into a family with generations of Cubs fans.
His household today is full of Cubs fans, too.
“My brother and father are always watching the games,” said Vandewiel. “They knew this year is the year.”
The Vandewiels have been ready for this season before it even began. They had confidence as the team headed to Cleveland for the first two games of the Series.
“My father has already bought his gear for the games,” Vandewiel said.
The whole family knows, she said, that the Cubs are going to win it all this year.
If you’re a Chicago Cubs fan, the greatest day of your life is yet to come.
Diana Awawdeh is a Junior Reporter for Youth Journalism International.
Chicago Cubs jerseys line the whole fence of the Vandewiel family property in Tinley Park, Illinois. (Diana Awawdeh/YJI)
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