October 16, 2024: Streets Have No Name

Where are you from? Is that important to you? Should that even matter right this second? Maybe you don’t like where you’re from; maybe you do. Where you’re from was the start of you; maybe it’s a start you don’t like to remember. Whether or not it matters today is neither here nor there. At the end of the day, it DOES play a part in who you are, like it or not. Of course, when you get older, you have a chance to change “where you’re from”; you don’t have to stay in the same place, neighborhood, city, state, or even country. If you’re lucky enough, you have the means to make that change, to get away from a place where you don’t want to be; some may not be that fortunate… they have to make the best of where they’re at. Some may want to be where they’re at; some are lucky enough to be happy with that. Content? Maybe. Is the grass always greener? If that’s a burning desire, you should find out; you could always come back home, right?

Whenever I meet somebody new, it’s one of my standard questions: Where are you from? Why do I care? Well, it tells me a little bit about that person, just a small piece maybe; maybe a big piece. It kind of all depends on how they answer, and where their path has went since that day they entered this life; maybe they’ll expand upon it. I’m not looking for a standard answer, like… “I’m from the United States of America”. No, I want more; I want the details. Nobody would answer the question that way unless we were NOT in this country, right? At least I’ve never heard that answer. I have received a question back to me, like… what do you mean? Do you want to know my heritage, or the location where I was born? It’s always the latter for me. I’m not so interested in your heritage per se, but instead, again, your location when you came out of your mommy’s tummy. I guess that would be the only time country came into the response. Sometimes it may be the state… especially if I’m asking this question in a state where you’re NOT from. I’m good with that, but I still want more… what city? For states that I’m unfamiliar with, the city will have to do. For places I am more familiar with, like let’s just say Los Angeles, California, I’d like to know more… what area/neighborhood? What streets?

Of course, when it comes to Chicago, well… I definitely need streets; this is how I can tell if you’re really from the city or not. Again, doesn’t matter to me if you are or not; just trying to understand a little bit about you… maybe determine things we may have in common, etc. If you’re truly from Chicago like me, then I need street names, because that will confirm for me that you are indeed from the same place I am from number one, and number two, I most certainly will know exactly where you’re talking about, and finally number three, I may actually have some memories of that area. Back when I first learned to drive, we would drive all around the city. I have been all around the city throughout my life; I like to know. If you can’t name streets, that’s cool, just tell me you’re from somewhere else and live here now; no biggie.

Maybe I ask this question because I’m proud of where I’m from; I look forward to sharing that with people. I am from Chicago, more specifically, the Heart of Chicago neighborhood, more specifically, Cullerton and Damen. It’s where my journey started, well, technically it was in a hospital on the South Side…