14-Nov-16 – It’s November in Chicago and fans have watched their last Cubs game of the year, game seven of the World Series. Today the city is blanketed in white “W” flags and bright blue caps dot commuter’s heads during morning rush hour on the Brown and Red lines. Cubs fans are now solemn after the team ended their 108-year World Series Championship drought.

Despite the wealth of Instagram filters and Snapchat geotags at their fingertips, some fans have commemorated the occasion in a charmingly low-tech way. The brick walls of Wrigley Field on Sheffield and Waveland Avenues have been coated in colorful chalk messages. A mix of solemn thanks, memories of a special year, and respects given to fallen fans and family who missed out by leaving us too soon.

(Left) Ticket windows at Wrigley Field.

But all good things must come to an end and the Cubs organization has announced that due to construction, they will need to fence in the impromptu memorial and remove the postseason artwork. Like the Buddhist sand mandalas, painstakingly constructed and then destroyed, all the chalk artwork on Wrigley’s walls will go away.

Thousands of fans have picked up a piece of chalk to add their memory to the “Wailing Wall of Chicago.” These fans were as likely to have a lump in their throat as a smile on their face. Photos were taken and parents pointed out poignant connections to children too young to understand.

It was an organic outgrowth of a communal experience – temporary at best, as construction and weather will make these tributes fade before pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training.

Peggy Gibbons brought her own batch of Crayola sidewalk chalk and camped out at the wall all morning before going to work. She put out a call on Facebook and Twitter to offer to write messages on behalf of friends and family, and worked her way down a long list of names scribbled on pink Post-It notes.

“Someone just texted and reminded me of one of my old bosses who passed away earlier this year,” she said. “He used to take us to the opener every year, rented two buses, drove in from Aurora, took us all out drinking. He was a huge Cubs fan. He would’ve loved to be here tonight.”

The chalk art and messages may go away, but the tales of the 2016 season are sure to feature prominently in stories for years to come.

“This is something [that is] so important to Chicago,” said lifelong north sider Mylynna Alvarado. “It’s a loyalty that the Cubs bring to our city. No matter how old you are or how young you are, it’s an awesome feeling that everyone has such a connection with the Chicago Cubs.”

For a team that has so often rewarded loyalty with disappointment, this year is different.