A Reflection on the past from the present

When first I came to Illinois after living in California, I began to use Chicago as a template to building a new life. I lived in the 'burbs, trying to raise children within an environmnet that would not be too harsh on them, but I choose to continue my explorations into lifestyle change. Being in the Midwest was different than being in California and I found the city to be the blueprint as well as the challenge for me as a newly-functioning adult in a very crazy world.

It was less than successful, but it was an adventure and I remember fondly the art classes, the parking lessons, the dark alleys and the wonderful streets filled with people in a party mood. I was thrilled to be a part of it all, and then, I would escape all that to perform my mother duties l. I balanced it pretty well, worked to earn enough for food, shelter and clothing, but often little else except love. and fun. We were a torn aprart family that was just getting by. STill there was love and that was of course the saving grace, as always. My daughters taught me to love by the presence of their being. I am grateful for that.

Those years helped me later after my second marriage when I took on the urban lifestyle in earnest. It was 20 years later, but it was easier because I'd had that previous experience and I was boind to build on it. The city was calling me and I was up for the task.

Now, in lazy Arizona, I wonder at it all. The elevators, the streets with trees in tubs and sidewalk cafes filled with people not even paying attention to one another, much less me. All that is treasured. All that is good. And this too will be "good" when I view it again in ten or twenty years. Such is life. The making of memories.