Growing up in Illinois, when I was in elementary school, it was commonplace for our school to have several emergency drills in case there was a tornado. We knew to hide under our desks and cover our heads with our hands and wait until the drill was over. The thought behind the drill was that we would be ready if a disaster ever struck. We followed up with fire drills as well. We prepared for what we knew could happen but hoped would never happen to us… (more…)
This week has been lovely in most parts of America. Here in Illinois, it’s been better-than-spring warm weather and sun. It’s only March (generally a chilled and cloudy month) so everyone has been moving about outdoors, soaking in this blessing.
My daughter and went to one of our favorite spots, Lincoln Memorial Gardens. We live in Springfield, Illinois which is the adult home of President Abraham Lincoln. He and his family lived here for over 28 years before his presidency, and he returned to Springfield to be buried in a somber, grand tomb in the Oak Ridge Cemetery. Lincoln Memorial Gardens is a vast natural space cultivated to maintain the wild feel of the natural Illinois landscape as it was when Abe lived here over 150 years ago. (more…)
A death occurred in the family on my husband’s side a few weeks past. Suddenly, the house was filled with children walking around in confused excitement, while adults were cleaning frantically and packing bags. Plans were cancelled, and a few hours later, 3 a.m. to be exact, we were in the car sleepy-eyed and nervous.
A handful of drunk drivers zipped by as we drove from the countryside down into Chicago and out again. A couple of relatively narrow misses had me thankful that my husband is very alert early in the morning.
And, thinking about our friend who was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 19. And, wishing that the drunk drivers we saw would be pulled over by the police and arrested to protect others like him. Nobody should have to bury a friend as young as he was, as young as we were. (more…)
Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I currently live in Illinois outside of Chicagoland. I was born in Wroclaw, Poland and moved at age 1 to Austria to flee Communism with my parents.
We lived in a hotel in a village in Austria for about another year before we finally were taken by the Catholic Church to Maryland, where we lived in the inner city for a couple of years before moving to the suburbs of Maryland.
What language(s) do you speak?
I currently speak Polish and English. I have had little opportunity to speak the German and French I knew as a child but am working on re-learning them again. (more…)
