Enchanted Ravenswood

I loved living in Ravenswood, a neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. Even the name was evocative of some kind of old-timey place rife with history and magic.

I lived in a giant one-bedroom apartment at the top of three full flights of stairs, carpeted in vibrant orange patterned carpeting that could make you dizzy--especially if you were returning home after being overserved at a nearby watering hole.

I lived in the backward "C" in the middle of the print, above both train tracks.

I'd found a company that drew illustrations of Chicago neighborhoods (now called Wonder City Studio) and bought a print of Ravenswood in 2018, and only just at the beginning of 2023 did I have it framed and hung up in my house.

I loved living there for so many reasons. The main one is that it's the apartment where I lived when I met and fell in love with Ken. But I also loved moving from crowded Lakeview to a place that is quiet and serene by comparison. (Something I would do again when I moved from the city to the northwest suburbs in 2021.) Finding that neighborhood was like finding some secret no one else knew about.

I think we all probably have lived in a place like this: the place you think of that represents a certain beloved period of your life. When I think of the life I was living just before it intersected with Ken's, this is the apartment I think of. The parties, Saturday Morning Services (a writing meet-up with my fellow Second City alums), and the breakfasts Ken I would walk to at a restaurant called "Joanne & Sons," which he loved because his mother's name is Joanne, who had three sons. (Spacca Napoli resides there now.)

I knew what frame I wanted it in, and as soon as I got it home and hung it up, it felt as if it had always been there. I love it so much. I also love that I get a birdseye view of that special place whenever I pass by.

I took a "companion" picture at the bend of the "L" in the print years ago on long walks I took the summer Ken died. After I got the print framed and hung, I had a large-scale version printed out and hung it nearby.

I love how the "L" casually snakes through Ravenswood.

I smile when I think of Ravenswood. It represents so much happiness. I've lived in other wonderful places before, too. But there is something very special to me about Ravenswood. And, now, I've cast a spell that keeps it frozen in time on the walls of another place I love living.