Chicago -- City of Never-Ending Surprises

Well, then, I still really love Chicago, in spite of ever unfolding truths.  

To the left is Edgewater Hospital, the site where my beloved sons, Ben and Brad, each first saw the light of day. which is situated, obviously, on the shores of the beautiful Lake Michigan, address, 5700 No. Ashland Avenue in Chicago.  It truly was at the time a distinguished and reputable spot, one which anyone would have been proud to call their birthspot.  Dr. Eli Bernick was indeed the finest of obstetricians, competent, patriarchal, and indeed very Jewish.

Recommending it further is that Hillary Rodham Clinton was also born there.  Perhaps less thrilling is that John Wayne Gacy was born there, but I’ll not go into that.  He certainly wasn’t a mass-murderer as a newborn.  You’ll have to Google for more details.  I’ll not stoop to those here.

But here's something I didn't know until just the other day when Carl notified me of something he'd discovered.

Edgewater fell on hard times in the late 1990’s.  Ugly doings shut the place down, in fact.  Programs funded by the State of Illinois and the Feds were stopped due to some of Edgewater’s cheesy dealings.  Unnecessary operations and amputations on homeless guys they picked up from the methadone clinics around seemed to irritate the powers-that-be and without their money, Edgewater, the former Grande Dame on the Lake, had to close her doors.  Sounds like a really bad Law and Order episode.  

Now when Chicago looks down its nose on you, that really is the last straw I guess.  

But let me tell you, I love that city still.  It’s got something.  I think it’s because it’s brassy.  And I like brassy.  Wonder why?