How many steps did it take you to get to the
sidewalk in front of your home? How many steps did it take you to get to
the curb or the street?
Maybe I should ask you how many steps were you
willing to take and still feel safe and secure back when you were growing up? The
sidewalks and streets were our playgrounds back in the day; back in the day of
growing up in Brighton Park. No
membership, no photo ID, and no fee!
I remember Pershing Road (39th Street) was this
immense street. I thought planes flying into Midway could have landed there. Now
I drive down Pershing Road and think how do two cars fit in this small
thoroughfare? Lots happened on Pershing Road. When I was 5 years old, right
after completing Kindergarten at SJSA, I was struck by a car driven by a Santa
Fe Railroad police officer. Four broken ribs, a broken leg, and a concussion was
the result of me versus car! I also learned to play hockey right in front of my
home with my neighbors and brother. My older brother is a huge hockey fan. Or
the Fourth of July, I could literally look east down Pershing Road or west down
Pershing Road, and see fireworks in front of every single home; Francis Scott
Key would have been proud. He may have added a guitar solo somewhere, but
in the end the illumination from all of Pershing Road was incredible to
witness. We didn't go to a suburb, to the lakefront. We walked outside of our
homes and participated in the safety of our Brighton Park streets.
Let's not forget the alleys. How many things
did we do in the alleys behind our homes? We played hockey there, too. I would
cross the alleyway and visit friends or look for my brothers in their friends'
backyards. It was a meeting point, an exit or escape route, and sometimes it
was a milestone, a milestone to verify how safe and secure we felt from the
doorstep of our homes. I would ride my bike around the block a hundred
times: east down Pershing to St. Louis, down north to the alley, then a
right turn. Now west towards Homan Avenue; another right turn, south to
Pershing Road and around again. If I was brave I would start by going west!
How far was that from my home?
No GPS, no MapQuest…I was simply able to navigate
around the block. I was free, safe and secure. Did I really think of those
things? Did my parents think about my safety and security? Of course
they did. I am sure I did, too, because that was a part of my development – safe
environment that includes safety in psycho-emotional terms as well.
Take a moment to think back when you last saw a
toddler wander away from his mother or father, how he or she reaches along a
table or furniture: confident, but always looking back to check to see if mom
and dad are still around, always looking for that security blanket or secure
attachment.
I was eight years old when I went on my first 'away
from home' errand: down the street to Theresa's Grocery Store back when
neighborhoods had their two or three little Ma and Pa shops. We had Bogie's,
Theresa's and Stanley's on 38th Street. These little shops had what we needed
for smaller families, for couples, and for those special dinner dishes that
needed an ingredient that our parents may have forgotten to buy.
Theresa's Grocery Store was 417 steps from my home.
How far would you go back then? Now, think, how far would we let our children
or grandchildren go? Is there new fears
or old ones? New barriers? Is it too far? Or is it unnecessary now?
Interestingly enough, I really didn’t think about
it last week when I retraced my ancient, fossilized footprints. I was not restricted then
nor when I was eight in 1975. Hmmmmmm...
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Theresa's Grocery Store:
the business is still in the family, second generation currently. My
first visit to the store was about 1975. I probably visited with my older
brothers a couple of years before then.
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