Quick detour away from Ireland which I'm still going to finish - but this is about Sweet Home Chicago

   So many times people ask me why I stay in Chicago, away from friends and family, while my husband gets shuffled around on pipelines, and after so many of these questions I feel I need to explain and try to make everyone understand. The answer both simple, and complicated. The simple answer is that Chicago is my home. I smile when I see the skyline, no matter how frequently I see it. I love it in all kinds of weather – I love the architecture in the beautiful City by the Lake. I’ve lived here now nearly 12 years – Chicago, Chi-town, is my home.
    I consider myself a Chicagoan as much as a Michigander. Chicago is the home of the Blues – my style of singing. It’s the City of Big (or Broad) Shoulders; we don’t have the cold attitude you might find in New York. You’ll find a city that comes together to help you out if you need help, a “toddlin’ town” that may need some help every now and then, but we take care of our own.
    We are a city of neighborhoods – the best part of Chicago depends on what you’re in the mood for that day – window shopping on the Magnificent Mile, cocktails on the top of the Hancock Building, chicken makhani in Little India on Devon St., grocery shopping for Chinese food in Chinatown, festivals along Lake Michigan, a river we proudly dye green for St. Patrick’s Day in honor of Chicago’s Irish heritage, or even our current quiet neighborhood, Albany Park, where everyone is bilingual Spanish and English and is filled with church-going families.
    We’re a city where all are welcome – we welcome all races, creeds, genders, and sexualities, and we have community health centers and counseling centers that help those rejected by their family due to their sexuality or gender identity. We’re also a city of blowhard politicians, some of whom end up being crooks, but we take care of them legally when we find out. Most people don't know this, but it is the blowhard politicians during the time of the World's Fair that helped us earn the nickname “the Windy City”. 
   We may become very possessive of the parking spots we shovel out when it snows. But we are also out there shoveling for our neighbors if necessary. We’re a city of dog-lovers and probably cat-lovers too, of artists and architects, and even though historically the world has known Chicago as the Second City, when you visit you’ll get first-class service.  Especially if you visit me!
   I’ll take Chicago over the “first city”, NYC, any day. There are some things that we need to work on – politics and racial affairs – but Chicago is still My Kind of Town. I choose to stay in Chicago simply because it’s my Sweet Home Chicago, and when my husband “comes home”, he comes home to our beautiful apartment. So please, think about this before asking me why I don’t leave Chicago yet.