“Holy Cross Hospital is a 160-bed general medical Roman Catholic hospital located in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood of the South Side of Chicago at 68th St. & California Avenue”; straight out of Wikipedia… 68th and Cal huh? That’s where my journey began.
It makes sense, that it’s a Roman Catholic hospital; I’m not sure of the other options at the time in 1976, but it was close enough to where my parents were living, just under 7 miles almost straight south. My parents were both Catholic; this is how I was raised as well… Choosing a Catholic hospital for me to be born lines up. This location at 68th and California is right across the street from Marquette Park. Some more Wikipedia info… “From the mid 1960s until the late 1980s, Chicago’s Marquette Park was the scene of many racially charged rallies that erupted into violence. The rallies often spilled into the residential areas surrounding the park”. More specifically, the day before I was born, “around 250 civil rights activists tried again to march to Marquette Park but were stopped eight blocks short by police. Law enforcement also stopped a crowd of about 800 whites from confronting the civil rights marchers, keeping the groups apart. No injuries or serious clashes occurred, but 13 people were arrested, including two black men who fired guns into the air.” And here I thought everybody was gathering to celebrate my birth…
I wonder if it was difficult getting to the hospital that evening. My parents had plans the night before I was born; they were going to the Gaslight Club. My dad had gotten THE KEY for the night from a co-worker. Obviously they didn’t end up going (my dad used to tell people that his wife had to go to the hospital so he had to go to the Gaslight Club by himself… haha); I had other plans I guess. Enough time in the belly… let me out of here. So yeah, dinner plans cancelled, hospital here we come. The dinner plans my parents had were for a special occasion, their 6th wedding anniversary; now, there would be something else to celebrate on that same exact day… sharing is caring. Talk about timing… Being born into this world is very special on its own; being born into this world on the same exact day that your parents got married… pretty damn cool, at least I think so.
My birthday would be the last day of the Leo zodiac sign, if you’re into that stuff. They say Leo’s are natural leaders, charismatic, dramatic, generous, loyal, creative, big-hearted, action-oriented, averse to change, and spiritual; 7/8 out of 10 ain’t bad I guess. It is the last day of the sign… on the cusp they say… in my case, with Virgo. They say that people who fall into this category are like a Gemini who possesses the traits of two individual zodiac signs within one singular individual personality. So you’re telling me I have multiple personalities? That explains a lot… I have never once looked at anything Virgo related. I think Leo suits me pretty well actually.
I know nobody can really choose the details of their birth date… who they’re born to, where they’re born, when they’re born… yet if I COULD have chose the details, not sure I would have done much better. If I was a gambling man, playing that 3 level slot machine, guess you could say I hit jackpot. A sign of things to come? Pretty good start to say the least…
bullwinkle
Nice, but………a slight oversite that I need to set straight.
We were not going out with your Aunt and Uncle. We were going to the Gaslight Club because I had gotten THE KEY for the night from a co-worker. Obviously we didn’t end up going.
I used to tell people that my wife had to go to the hospital so I had to go to the Gaslight Club by myself!!!!
JEFFK
I will edit, thank you!