July 31st, 2006
This entry was posted on July 31, 2006 4:13 PM and is filed under People.
July 31st, 2006
Over the weekend, I had the extreme pleasure of returning to my old neighborhood and attending the 40th annual Block Party. Our dearest and greatest neighbors, Gene and Lousia Newberry, contacted my Mother and asked her if she wanted to come. My Mom asked me and I jumped at the opportunity, in fact, I brought my youngest daughter Danielle.
Although I was born in the city of Chicago, I was raised one block from the city's west border in Oak Park. Not much has really changed. The trees seem thicker, my old home seem's a bit smaller, but the neighborhood is still great.
One of the thrills for me was seeing Tom, Sam and Carolyn Newberry, the kids that grew up next door. They are a bit younger that I am but have great families now who know all the stories of our childhood, the same way my daughter knows. Danielle was all ears listening to all the stories and flipping through the photo album of 40 years of block parties. Danielle didn't seem to mind hearing those same stories again. I took her to see my back yard and she looked at me and said; "Oh dad, this is where you played when you were a little boy."
I saw the Murphy's who lived acorss the alley with their great family and have now moved away. It took me a while to recognise little Jason Mitchell, who was the cutest little kid I had ever seen and who I used to carry around on my shoulders when he was about 3 or 4 and getting picked by some of the bully's in the "hood." Jason now stands about 6' 4" and looks like a Chicago Bear! I asked him if he wanted me to carry him around on my shoulders again. If that would have happened, I would be writing this from my hospital bed at Northwest Commuity.
My brother John and his wife Bridgett showed up and John, Tom Newberry and me started all over again with all neighborhood "Tall Tales."
One of the great things about last Saturday was not only seeing family and old dear friends and tasting Gene's perfect Brat's seasoning (beer soaked), ... but I was overcome with the feeling that I was really back home, ... in my home town. I stood at the bottom step of my old front porch and remembered sitting there with my late father during thunderstorms, or playing cards with Ed Hickey at all hours of the night. On that same front porch in 1969 I performed with my guitar and sang with two friends at the block party, ... my first gig. My dad and uncle passed the hat and we collected about $45.00. Later that night we spent some of it on pizza and gas and split the rest.
Dorothy was right, ... there's no place like home.
Over the weekend, I had the extreme pleasure of returning to my old neighborhood and attending the 40th annual Block Party. Our dearest and greatest neighbors, Gene and Lousia Newberry, contacted my Mother and asked her if she wanted to come. My Mom asked me and I jumped at the opportunity, in fact, I brought my youngest daughter Danielle.
Although I was born in the city of Chicago, I was raised one block from the city's west border in Oak Park. Not much has really changed. The trees seem thicker, my old home seem's a bit smaller, but the neighborhood is still great.
One of the thrills for me was seeing Tom, Sam and Carolyn Newberry, the kids that grew up next door. They are a bit younger that I am but have great families now who know all the stories of our childhood, the same way my daughter knows. Danielle was all ears listening to all the stories and flipping through the photo album of 40 years of block parties. Danielle didn't seem to mind hearing those same stories again. I took her to see my back yard and she looked at me and said; "Oh dad, this is where you played when you were a little boy."
I saw the Murphy's who lived acorss the alley with their great family and have now moved away. It took me a while to recognise little Jason Mitchell, who was the cutest little kid I had ever seen and who I used to carry around on my shoulders when he was about 3 or 4 and getting picked by some of the bully's in the "hood." Jason now stands about 6' 4" and looks like a Chicago Bear! I asked him if he wanted me to carry him around on my shoulders again. If that would have happened, I would be writing this from my hospital bed at Northwest Commuity.
My brother John and his wife Bridgett showed up and John, Tom Newberry and me started all over again with all neighborhood "Tall Tales."
One of the great things about last Saturday was not only seeing family and old dear friends and tasting Gene's perfect Brat's seasoning (beer soaked), ... but I was overcome with the feeling that I was really back home, ... in my home town. I stood at the bottom step of my old front porch and remembered sitting there with my late father during thunderstorms, or playing cards with Ed Hickey at all hours of the night. On that same front porch in 1969 I performed with my guitar and sang with two friends at the block party, ... my first gig. My dad and uncle passed the hat and we collected about $45.00. Later that night we spent some of it on pizza and gas and split the rest.
Dorothy was right, ... there's no place like home.