Date: 2/16/2023
Tags: Gratitude, Life
While the winter months find us spending more time indoors, I love to use that time to reflect on times past, for in reflection I revisit those things that truly matter and that which has had the greatest impact on who I am today.
I was born the second of three children; one sister four years older and the other four years younger. We were a middle-class family of moderate means, although trained as a mechanical engineer, my father worked three jobs when I was young, and most of my early child-rearing was completed by my mother. The first ten years of my life were spent in a three-flat apartment building owned by my grandmother; she occupied the second floor and my uncle, aunt, and three cousins lived in the basement apartment. I spent a considerable amount of time visiting my grandmother watching her cook her wonderful Italian meals and peppering her about our family, especially about my grandfather who died a year before I was born.
My grandmother’s apartment building was on Chicago’s west side, near Cicero Avenue and Jackson Boulevard. Our neighborhood was populated by a large number of families similar to ours, and my sisters and I never lacked for friends. During the summer we played baseball in one of the empty lots on the street, while in the winter we built snow forts and had snowball fights. We lived two blocks from Cicero Avenue, where Mom did her grocery shopping, and several blocks from Madison Avenue, where my friends and I saw movies for twenty-five cents at the “Byrd” movie theatre. On days off from school we ventured to the “Marbro” theatre where they showed one hundred cartoons for twenty-five cents; we never seemed to lack for things to do, and while we had a nineteen-inch black and white television, most of our time was spent with family and friends.
We learned quite a few lessons in that neighborhood; while not affluent, we always had what we needed, and we always appreciated the life mom and dad provided for us. We saw the value of hard work, learned that, even as children, we had responsibilities to our family. We appreciated having family close at hand and learned the important family traditions that defined who we were; traditions which we still practice today. As the quote states, “Growing up, my parents were my heroes, in the way they conducted their lives,” and I know that much of my parenting mimicked that of my mom and dad.
Needless to say, that as I reflect on my early childhood, and our beautiful neighborhood, I know that I hold so much of that time in my heart and I know I am a better person because of how and where I lived during those initial years. My hope is that our Darien provides our children with an environment filled with pleasant and long-lasting memories; memories that they will someday reflect on, and give thanks for growing up in a “nice place to live.”
Enjoy the remainder of the winter with your family and friends, and may the months ahead be filled with beautiful and pleasant memories that you will carry with you for years to come.