All the Indians fans had gone home by then, but people in blue still filled all the seats in the lower section behind the Cubs dugout, thousands of fans hanging around just to be part of the history they had witnessed.

All of a sudden they broke into song — “Go, Cubs, Go” — and chanted “MVP!” Nobody wanted to leave. It struck me at that moment that this World Series title probably meant more to Cubs fans than it did to Cubs players, and that's not diminishing the importance of it to every member of this championship team.

They instantly achieved a legacy in Chicago. It just underscored what exactly it meant to so many people who have been waiting so long and invested so much time and money and emotion into seeing what they thought would never happen.

This was a World Series title about Ricketts and Joe and Theo and Jake and Lester and Schwarber and Bryzzo and all the rest.

But mostly it was about you, the long-suffering Cubs fan, and never was that more obvious than seeing thousands of them singing in the rain at Progressive Field, celebrating the greatest victory of their lives.

— David Haugh

Before Game 5 at Wrigley Field, with the Cubs trailing the Indians 3-1 in the World Series, manager Joe Maddon gave jittery fans the go-ahead to freak out.

“Please be nervous, absolutely,” Maddon said. “You should be nervous. We have to win tonight, so go ahead and be nervous.”

They absolutely were nervous when the Cubs trailed 1-0 in the fourth inning. But Kris Bryant launched a game-tying home run to left to break the dam, and the Cubs scored three runs in the inning to stay alive. Bryant's home run was the moment it all turned around.

— Paul Sullivan

As I walked out of an ice cream shop early Tuesday afternoon in downtown Cleveland, I saw and heard Brittany Arrieta tell her children there was a candy store ahead.

“Try the Sugar Babies,” I replied as her muscular husband, Jake, wearing a black fleece vest and sunglasses, recognized my voice and spotted me holding a cup containing two scoops of banana cream ice cream.

“Don't tell me that's your breakfast,” Arrieta quipped while shaking his head.

Arrieta's sense of control told me he was in the right mindset to beat the Indians in a do-or-die Game 6 and keep the Cubs steered toward a World Series title.

— Mark Gonzales

I could just as easily pick 108 moments as one. The anticipation outside Wrigley Field before Game 3 and the relief and joy inside after Game 5. Addison Russell's grand slam in Game 6 to make it sink in that it actually might happen.

Rajai Davis' tying home run in Game 7 to confirm just how epic the night was. David Ross' storybook ending inside a storybook ending.

And finally, Cubs fans grouping in the Progressive Field bleachers in the Thursday morning rain, finally able to celebrate a Cubs reign.

— Colleen Kane

Addison Russell's grand slam. David Ross being carried off the field after his final game. Anthony Rizzo tucking the ball into his back pocket after the final out. All special moments to me because of how special they were to someone special to me.

My Uncle Joe, a lifelong die-hard who recited the 1969 lineup to me the night the Cubs beat the Dodgers to secure their place in the World Series, was paralyzed in a car accident in January.

He survived, he said, so he could see this. And so he did.

— Paul Skrbina

With the party raging inside the Cubs clubhouse after their Game 7 victory, reliever Hector Rondon managed to find a little bit of solitude in the maelstrom of a celebration 108 years in the making to connect with a loved one.

Rondon sat on the floor of a corner locker, concealed by the plastic hung to protect personal items from spraying champagne, while he chatted via video. It was a poignant reminder to do whatever it takes to share cherished moments with those who matter most.

— Chris Kuc

If you circled Wrigley Field before Game 3, you will never forget the vibe.

People talked about their fathers. They posed for pictures in front of the marquee. There was so much joy in the balmy air, some were even OK shelling out $150 to park. Cubs fans under 71 had never experienced this, and they wore their favorite jerseys — Santo, Sandberg, Banks, Jenkins — to commemorate the night.

“Isn't this beautiful?” asked Patty Brummond, a ticket scanner at the Clark and Addison entrance.

Yes, it was.

— Teddy Greenstein