What was the reason?

March 20, 2022

Dear Blog,

Today was a great day in the neighborhood. As I sat back and thought about what prompted me to creating this brand and set out on the journey to learn about the Belmont Cragin (BC) neighborhood, I thought about what I would have loved to know when I first moved here.

When we first moved to BC I was about 15. I was at my peak in the hunger for freedom and curiosity of what the world around me could do for me. I wanted to explore and test my limits, but I had a 5 p.m. curfew, no car, and my mom never let me go out. BUT if I would have known that two blocks from my apartment there was a cute neighborhood café with cheap delicious sandwiches and amazing coffee, I would have never been home. Or if I had discovered there was a whole shopping center with some of my favorite stores less than a 10 minute bus ride from me, I would have been able to do much more with my free time bored at home.

Now that I'm 21 with a license and the ability to get up and leave to explore with no boundaries, I'm never home. Maybe that's why my mom never let me go out and explore in the first place. But I've learned so much about the BC neighborhood living here for the past 7 years.

I feel like sometimes there’s so many people around me I've never met and I can never understand where we come from. How does everyone decide, “ok I'm buying a home in Belmont Cragin!” at the same time and somehow directly follow a timeline which would then lead us to all become neighbors?

It's a surreal feeling to discover your neighbor is a sheriff and top of her department, or the guy who lives two blocks down who’s at every one of my block parties even though he lives two blocks away, served in the army and that’s why he needs a wheelchair. The idea that there’s so many inspiring and incredible people and business owners, houses away from me living a life of their own, was the reason I chose to start this concept of, “The People of Belmont Cragin.” I think I'll just find more amazing people on my journey and I hope you enjoy following me on my journey of these discoveries.