I want to thank Chicagoan Gretchen Kalwinski for her op-ed about her hometown of Hammond (“’m a Chicagoan from Hammond. Let me clear up some things for Bears fans,” June 13). It was very enlightening. I am a lifelong Chicagoan, originally from the Rogers Park area, and for the last 35-plus years I’ve been in Edison Park. My knowledge of Indiana is limited to occasionally visiting close friends for the day in Michigan City. Although I realized Hammond was on the way to Michigan City, I never really paid much attention to the passing towns and cities.
Everything Kalwinski talks about regarding growing up going into downtown Chicago as a kid were almost exactly the kinds of things I did as a kid in the city. It was no different from what I experienced going from the North Side to downtown.
What really got me, though, was her stating that her childhood house in Hammond was three blocks from Chicago! The proximity and the descriptions of her relationship to Chicago could have been me. The Bears will be the same, whether they move to Hammond or Arlington Heights.
In reality, Kalwinski was a suburban Chicagoan. She lived the same experience as me and has the same right to want the Bears in Hammond as those who want the Bears in Illinois. I seldom get to go to a Bears game but always watch the games on TV. The Bears moving to Arlington Heights appeals to me for the rare occasion of my going to a game and for the civic pride of keeping them in Chicagoland. However, Kalwinski has awakened me to the fact that such civic pride can apply just as much to the Bears being in Hammond as being in Arlington Heights. The New York Giants and Jets playing in New Jersey is a good example. In my mind, Hammond was farther away.
My allegiance to the Bears was waning until I read Kalwinski’s op-ed.
I hope many people, Chicagoans especially, read her op-ed and rethink their reaction to the Bears’ Hammond announcement. I know I have.
I will be sharing the op-ed with the naysayers I know so they think twice about their negative reactions to Hammond and the Bears announcement. I will be proud to say, “Go Bears!” no matter where they end up — as long as it’s Hammond or Arlington Heights.
— Patty Skiersch, Chicago
Hammond and Chicago ties
Regarding Gretchen Kalwinski’s op-ed: I grew up in Whiting and Hammond and went to high school in Chicago at Mount Carmel. I’ve lived in Minnesota since the late 1970s but retain my lifelong support of the Bears and the White Sox. I am also a less fanatic fan of the Bulls and Blackhawks and, at best, neutral about the Cubs (they did have a few good players such as Ernie Banks and Ron Santo). Hammond and the Calumet Region are a part of Chicago — especially the South Side — culturally, geographically and ethnically. This contrasts with the affluent northwest suburbs in so many ways.
Go Bears. Go Hammond!
— Jim Judson, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Most important title: Dad
Of all the titles a man can accumulate in a lifetime, both civilian and military, the title “daddy” is the greatest of them all. After reading the words of the great British poet Robert Browning, “The last of life, for which the first was made,“ I started to think that we have two lives: the life we live and the unlived life inside us.
When I got married at 44, I began to believe that. Then I became a father at 51, and I was totally convinced I was blessed with something that almost had escaped me. After the thrill of becoming a daddy, I realized I had to forgive myself for not knowing what only time could teach.
Now I look at my phase three. Right in the middle of my front room is a tent and a playpen. The grandkids and grandpa are enjoying the heck out of life. It all started with being a daddy. How right Browning was.
— Bob Angone, Austin, Texas
Do right by your dad
It’s debatable whether today’s public figures equal their predecessors as role models. Can there ever be a better one than the parent at home who is the same sex as you?
My late lead-by-example father filled the bill. Profanity wasn’t tolerated in our house, and Dad quit smoking soon after the risks became evident. The pricey alcoholic beverages he received for Christmas at work went straight into a basement cupboard and stayed there. Around home, he demonstrated the same mastery that made him chief troubleshooting engineer at the games company.
Lectures seldom entered into any of this, nor outward shows of domestic affection common in some families. Nevertheless, quietly over time, it grew plain that convenient or not, he’d always be there for me. And that counted more than anything else.
Unfortunately, I forgot that last lesson, when in decline he was moved into a nursing home for his remaining five weeks. I visited once on Father’s Day 2007, but that’s only one repayment installment. And forever after his passing, that deficiency has been like a chronic itch I can’t scratch.
Can you as an offspring imagine yourself in this cautionary tale? If your dad is aging but local, you’re in luck. Here in the retirement home, I’ve seen short and simple weekly visits benefiting many families. Alternatively, you can learn the hard way that being at peace with yourself is just as important as settling with everyone else.
Steady parental support, unquestionably, is a win-win proposition.
— Tom Gregg, Niles
Why I fly the American flag
During the summer, I put out the flag of the United States. While it has become increasingly more difficult to proudly fly the flag, I fly it nonetheless.
I do not fly it for the man in the White House, for politicians who only care about their own personal power or for any particular political party. I fly it for the American principles I believe in: an America that welcomes those seeking a better life. An America where justice brings down oppressors and lifts up the ordinary. An America that celebrates everyone as a precious contributor to the fabric of our national identity. A democratic republic ruled truly by the people. When I look at the crisp, bright colors of a new flag, I see these cherished ideals that are at the heart of our national heritage, built upon a parchment of ideals signed 250 years ago.
As my flag fades and wears out over the summer months, I’m reminded that we as a nation have done many wrongs. I do not need to ignore or sugarcoat those wrongs in order to be patriotic. In fact, the truest of patriots tackle complex issues, resolving to create a more perfect union. They reflect on and learn from the past, and take action to push forward the American experiment.
I’ve noticed that many individuals and organizations have distanced themselves from commemorating this national anniversary and have distanced themselves from even flying the flag. While I understand their reasons, I think this is a grave mistake. If you do not proclaim your national narrative and your vision of the American Dream, someone else will step into the void of your silence, writing a story you do not wish to be written, and create an all-too-real nightmare. Indeed, this is already happening in so many ways.
So, I continue to fly my flag with a sense of hope that I refuse to relinquish. Hope that we can still come together, as a united people. Hope that we can do better, that we must do better and someday will do better. Hope that the flag may wave over a land that is more free and fair than it is today. And hope that more brave folks will stand up to tyrants, like the revolutionaries two and a half centuries ago — waving the flag as a sign of liberty and justice for all, for generations to come.
— Joseph Fernicola III, Glenview
Positive news so refreshing
Adorable piping plover chicks (“Four piping plovers hatch at Montrose Beach”), ecstatic James Beard winners (“‘This is a childhood dream come true’”), dedicated button collectors (“Political button collectors find new home for their obsession”) and the Obama Presidential Center opening celebrations (“Opening ceremony to feature Wonder, Hudson, Springsteen”)!
Thank you for a plethora of news on June 17 that didn’t crush our spirits. We all need a mental lift sometimes, you know?
— Janice Laird, Crystal Lake
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