Happy Birthday Chicago

A long time ago a boy I loved asked me “if you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?” I smiled knowingly and said “I would live here; I would live in Chicago.” He looked at me disapprovingly, he was not satisfied with my answer, there were far to many illustrious and foreign cities to explore. But my answer stands. If I wanted to live somewhere else, well, I would go live there.

I have lived in other cities and states. I went to school in Indianapolis (Butler University) and managed to somehow stop drinking long enough to enjoy the city proper, but it didn’t sing to me. Nice city, better than one might expect actually, but no singing.  After college I lived in Colorado for awhile. I lived in and loved Boulder. It sang to me, but not all the time and to only one part of me. I loved it’s mountains and weird people who taught me I didn’t have to live a life that others did. I appreciated that knowledge and took it home with me eventually.

For the next ten years I enjoyed it here. I went out to bars and dinners. I worked at the greatest places – The Improv Comedy Club for one, the old one on Wells, there’s a sushi place there now, but my laughter and tears must ring in its hallways late at night, I felt much emotion there. I learned a little about the city, but only what I needed to know when I knew it. I graced it’s stages and did some improv, some good – some….not good. The city sang to me then but I didn’t really hear it, it was like background to my young, busy life. I wrote and produced shows and pounded the city’s pavements with my black boots. I learned to love it, but didn’t know how much, until…

I moved to New York City in 2000. I went for reasons that are not wholly unselfish and ended up unhappy there. NY is an amazing city, no doubt. I have a love for cities all over the world. I appreciate their ability to make it possible to get places. So I appreciated NY for it’s urban haven, but the noise, the people, the interruptions – it all made me tired. Not inspired. I couldn’t even hear a song, much less love it.

After a year to the day pretty much, I moved home. I remember coming to Chicago to look for an apartment (took me one afternoon, I love you Chicago) and the sun was shining and I was wandering around Lakeview and stopped in at The Melrose as I used to do, for a quick burger. Sitting in that diner, looking out at the familiar streets, I was hit with such a profound love of a “place” that my heart almost stopped. Even though part of me felt like I was leaving New York City as a failure – someone who couldn’t hack it – part of me wanted to break down right then and there with relief, with beauty, with passion.

It was then I decided I would never take this city for granted again. That’s when I started at The Architecture Foundation and that was where my true heart was born.

It is my will and my wish to reveal the awesome of Chicago. Each day I can show someone something cool, each day I can learn something right back, each day I can go outside and smell the lake, or see 50 bunnies or smile at that guy on Michigan Ave in his crazy suits, is a day that I know I made the right decision. This city sings so loudly there are days when it makes me cry and I know my voice could never be bright enough to do the song justice.

Happy Birthday Chicago, here’s to many more.

Here’s the vid of everyone singing happy birthday to Chicago!