We swam downtown on the L,
the heat index over 100
and humidity clogging our lungs,
to celebrate a birthday.
We love the birthday girl enough to do this.
Had it been our birthday,
we would have rescheduled
for a cooler day.
I’m not the only one. Neil Steinberg does, too. So do a lot of other people—presumably including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who wrote of thinking to himself “God, I am in Chicago” after first arriving in the city for a visit at the age of 15.
Steinberg recounts that moment of Jackson’s among many other stories in his 2012 book You Were Never in Chicago, which I read recently and reviewed over at Escape into Life. It’s one of many memorable tales Steinberg brings to life in the book, which took me down memory lane—both as a journalist and as an adoptive Chicagoan—while also teaching me more about the history of the city I love.
I have opera tickets, and I am filled with giddy anticipation. There are a couple of reasons for this: Continue reading