High School Years
In the spring of 1961 we moved into a rented
apartment at 15030 University in Dolton. Though it seemed we lived at 111
Street for years it was only a summer, fall and winter and part of a spring.
The apartment on University was very nice it had two bedrooms a master bedroom
and a smaller bedroom. My dad cut the master bedroom in half so my sister and I
could share it. Once she got of a certain age I was moved out into the dining
room. Girls after all need their privacy.
The apartment was within walking distance from
Thornridge so in rain, snow, bitter cold and 90 plus degree heat I walked to
school. There was never a thought of getting a ride from mom and certainly not
dad. After all walking is how they got to school, “Why when I was your age I
had to walk through knee deep snow to school wearing nothing but galoshes and
an old winter coat.” There were of course variations to the story. Substitute
rain for snow, or add in bitter cold or heat.
Most days walking to
school was enjoyable, a chance to meet up with friends and talk. Days when it
snowed we had snowball fights on the way. When it rained or was too cold or too
snowy we just toughed it out, we didn't melt or get sick. Now the very idea of
walking to school in inclement weather is unthinkable. That rite of passage is
gone for the most part. We do everything to protect our children from even the
littlest hurt or inconvenience. Just riding a bike requires a helmet, arm pads and knee pads. We
never would consider wearing those things when I was young. Getting hurt, cut, scraped and
bloodied was a badge of honor especially for boys.
We live in a very hard and sometimes very cruel
world. Those who cannot adapt or who are weak will not survive. Nor will a
nation that is made up of weak people who are looking to be taken care of. We
as a nation are rapidly losing our ability to care for ourselves. We are
constantly looking to the government to solve problems we should be solving
ourselves. If we continue to give up our freedom to be taken care of we will
soon lose all of our freedoms and like those in North Korea singing the praises of our Great Leader who cares for us.
If there was one thing we knew in my father’s house
it was respect for our elders, period end of conversation. If our parents told
us to do something we did it or suffered the consequences. My dad use to say,
“My children may not love me but they WILL respect me.” In the end I both loved
and respected my dad and mom. I thank them for giving me the self-discipline to
succeed in life. Without their teaching I could never have done or accomplished
anything. My dad taught me that if I wanted something I would have to work for
it. That teaching has led me to places I could never have gone or have hoped to
have gone. Hard work and education always leads to a better life.
Living on University Avenue was to be some of the
best times of my life. The bulling at Thornridge was in many respects easier to
take. There were three of us who didn't fit in with any group and we became
friends. It’s easier to go through hard times with friends. One summer day we
were fixing our bikes in an old shed by the garage and one of us suggested
building bikes and selling them. The next day we went to the Dolton dump and
searched through the garbage for bike parts. We found plenty. One man’s junk
another man’s treasure.
Two days later we sold our first bike for $35 and our
bike business was born. We used the old shed by the garage as our workshop.
Throughout the summer we would take the parts from the dump and build a bike
out of them and sell it. We got the frames and parts for free and sold most of
our bikes at a $35 profit. We got so good at putting bikes together we could
build two or three bikes a week easily. We advertised in the Shopper a local
paper especially made for buying and selling unwanted or unneeded items. It was
free and our only source of advertising.
We
all came from working class families and were taught that if we wanted money we
had to earn it. We had pride in being self-sufficient in earning our own money.
The bike shop was just one of the things we did. We had a grass cutting, car
and window washing and general cleanup business. Every Saturday during the
school year when the weather was nice and every day, almost, during summer
vacation we went house to house offering to cut grass, wash cars and so on. We
made very good money sometime over a hundred dollars a day to be divided among
three of us. Because we all worked together we were able to wash several cars and cut several lawns a
day. We even had areas set aside. On Monday we worked one area then on Tuesday
another and so on. We instinctively knew not to work the same area every day.
We
loved winter especially really snowy winters. We would go door to door offering
to shovel driveways and sidewalks. Very
often we made well over a hundred dollars a night. This was before the advent
of snow blowers in every garage. Many men didn't want to shovel snow after a
hard day’s work. Many times we would be walking by a man shoveling and get a
job without asking. The three of us could shovel several houses during a three
or four hour period.
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