Home, Sweet Home Chicago!

This photo of Chicago is courtesy of TripAdvisor

What is it about Chicago that draws me back? Well I suppose that I can answer that question myself, after lived here from 1956 to 1987. It's home, of course. Filled with the whole gamut of memories one can accumulates in thirty plus years of living in any one place, from joy to pain and everything in between. As I drive through the neighborhoods (and yes, Chicago is still a city of neighborhoods, despite all of the great imagery of it's awe inspiring skyline in media images), I am reminded how working class the city really is. On practically every block of major arteries you see small business; family-owned and operated stores, shops and medical practices. And such diversity too!

For me the first thing that I think of the cuisine available here; Italian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Soul, Greek, Polish, Jewish, German, Middle Eastern - it's all represented here and in abundance. One of the most wonderful smells that I remember as a child was walking down 18th street near Halsted and smelling fresh tortillas and Mexican sweet breads being made in a tortilla shop along that street. It's still there and I'll bet if I walked there again I would still smell those wonderful aromas.

But today as it was back when I lived here, it's a dangerous city too, full of violence. If you go looking for trouble you will quickly find it. And sometimes the trouble will find you when you are not looking for it. There are certain places that you just do not go to, especially at night. That's true of any major city, for sure, but the Chicago spin on crime is particularly distinctive.

I am reminded that a major reason why we left the city (my wife was born here too), was that as a young married couple we had our apartment broken into and ransacked on the near north side. That incident was particularly troubling to us because the whole building we were living in was robbed in broad daylight. If you have ever had the misfortune of being broken into you know how violated you feel afterward.

Still, those unpleasant memories aside, the city calls for me. I have always loved it's cultures, it's sports atmosphere, it's restaurants, and of course the many great institutions of higher education here. One of which, De Paul University, is my Alma mater and which brings me to town this week to attend Reunion Week activities.

I've made my home in Tucson, Arizona, another great city that I adore - in an entirely different way. But my first home was here, in the Windy City. And I will always consider it home base, no matter how far I am away from it. Anytime come here it brings a smile to my face!