If I had to describe who I am to a stranger in three words, I would say, "I’m from Chicago." It is the city of my birth, where I grew up and lived the first 34 years of my life. It is what people know about me the minute I open my mouth. Mere photographs of the city can make my heart swell. And not just the beautiful parts. There is something so unique about the neighborhoods of Chicago that I instantly recognize my city in any film. I have to nudge my fellow-viewers and point it out with a level of pride, love and excitement I normally reserve for photos of my children. "That’s Chicago!"
I eagerly moved to Massachusetts 20 years ago. It was time for a change, to broaden my horizons and experience something different. The east coast! The only state that voted for McGovern! All those Kennedys! We lived in three different towns in those 20 years: Hingham on the south shore, Boston - so close to Symphony Hall that I could go home to use the bathroom if the line was too long, and Yarmouth on Cape Cod. All beautiful, all exciting, but last year when an opportunity presented itself to move back "home", I jumped at the chance.
In my absence, my "Sweet Home Chicago" became even more gorgeous and amazing than it was when I left. How can I compare it to Massachusetts? Every time I landed at Logan, I felt like my IQ got an automatic 5 point bump. And there was a reserved quality, almost an absence of wildness, that was so comforting to me at that stage of my life. Landing in Chicago is a different experience. There’s an immediate, madcap, in-your-face, bad as we wanna be quality that will always feel like home.
I eagerly moved to Massachusetts 20 years ago. It was time for a change, to broaden my horizons and experience something different. The east coast! The only state that voted for McGovern! All those Kennedys! We lived in three different towns in those 20 years: Hingham on the south shore, Boston - so close to Symphony Hall that I could go home to use the bathroom if the line was too long, and Yarmouth on Cape Cod. All beautiful, all exciting, but last year when an opportunity presented itself to move back "home", I jumped at the chance.
In my absence, my "Sweet Home Chicago" became even more gorgeous and amazing than it was when I left. How can I compare it to Massachusetts? Every time I landed at Logan, I felt like my IQ got an automatic 5 point bump. And there was a reserved quality, almost an absence of wildness, that was so comforting to me at that stage of my life. Landing in Chicago is a different experience. There’s an immediate, madcap, in-your-face, bad as we wanna be quality that will always feel like home.
1 comment:
I wish I had realized my tendency to correlate being from Chicago with being a good person, but Kristen recognized it first. Anyone from Chicago gets an immediately character bonus, as if they had served in the peace core or been the first to mix blueberries and pancakes. It usually goes something like, "Mark is a super nice guy. He's from Chicago...."
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