Home Base
As I cheered on my Blackhawks last night, a thought occurred
to me – when did they become ‘my Blackhawks’? I’m from Boston, grew up cheering on Ray
Bourque and the Bruins, rooted for the Red Sox (my T-ball card lists my
favorite player as Jim Rice) and sat through cold days watching the Patriots in
Foxborough. When did I switch allegiances? Did I truly?
I’ve lived in Chicago for over 18 years now, but I spent
the first 25 of my life in Massachusetts. I
keep thinking when I get to the halfway mark - when I’ve lived here 25 years - I’ll legitimately be able to say, “I’m from Chicago.” But will I be? Will I always be from Boston? When I’m here in Chicago, I refer to Boston
as ‘back home,’ but of course when I’m visiting my family in Massachusetts I
reverse it. Also, I don’t currently live
in the City of Chicago, nor did I live in the City of Boston, but the suburbs
of both and always give the city name rather than my town. C’mon we all do it. Only when speaking with someone who actually
lives in either city do I get outted, and they always make sure to point out
the distinction.
A couple of years I was put to the test. The Bruins
faced the Blackhawks in the quest for the Stanley Cup. While I really wanted the Blackhawks to win,
because it’s exciting to be in a place with a winning team., and the parade is insanely
fun, I joked with everyone, telling them it was a win and t-shirt for me either
way. My brother I had fun at each
other’s expense on social media and in the end, well you know.
As for baseball, I flub that one too. I say I’m a Sox fan and leave it at
that. My husband’s family are all White
Sox fans, the other Chicago baseball team is like Voldemort, we don’t use the
“C” word. Again though, when Neil
Diamond sang and everyone at Fenway came out Boston Strong, I proudly wore my
Red Sox shirts and hats around the suburbs of Chicago. However, when I took my kids to visit family
last summer, we made sure each of us wore a Blackhawks shirt each day.
Confused as to where home is? Maybe.
Lucky to have two wonderful cities to cheer for? Absolutely. Even from the suburbs. Go Hawks and Sox!
