The summer is moving all too quickly, but also so slowly. It’s a feeling I’ve never quite experienced except during these hot summer days with no central AC. I am a wimp in more ways than one in the heat and humidity of the Midwest. Chicago effectively turns into a...
In Chicago, I lead a small homework center where kids can come and work on their math and reading and everything in between. It’s certainly not what I thought I would do in life, but I love it. Maybe that will be the title of my next book because that seems to be a...
I live in this beautifully diverse and densely populated neighborhood on the north side of Chicago where the government resettles refugees and immigrants make their new home. Chicagoans know it as Little India. When you walk the streets of my neighborhood, you don’t...
To the parents in my neighborhood,I’ve never seen a love quite like yours. I’ve never seen so many moms and dads, grown men and women, give up so much for the sake of their kids. To be fair, some of you came from very humble, war-torn places, so maybe it doesn’t seem...
I spend significant time with refugees in my neighborhood. In fact, most of the people we serve are refugees. Often, they come to this country with few possessions but heavy hearts. Most days it feels impossible to hold their stories—to shoulder their burdens, to...
Most of the time, I am a fish out of water in this neighborhood. I am the minority in a city and country where I am the majority. I speak one language in a place where most of my neighbors have at least two or three or six on their list. Often, I step into people’s...
