On the 180th birthday anniversary for the City of Chicago founded on March
4, 1837, I remember why Chicago was the choice I made for a destination.
When my parents decided to live in the United States of America, I was
living in the Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba and attending elementary
school in Spanish. One day, my Mother told me that both my parents decided
to leave Santiago de Cuba and settle in another city of the United States
of America. She asked me in which city we should live? There were many
choices of cities based on the family relatives who were already in the
USA. Since Catholic Charities sponsored the Freedom Flights, "Vuelos de
Libertad", the Catholic Church offered help in Connecticut and Chicago to
relocate Cuban families there. My Mother and Father thought that
Connecticut was very, very cold and farther north in the East Coast. While
Chicago was in the Midwest, a city by Lake Michigan, one of the Great
Lakes--Erie, Huron, and Superior. My parents had Cuban friends in
Connecticut and Chicago, as well as in other American cities. However, the
City of Chicago was unanimously our choice for a destination in the United
States of America. My Grandmother had Cuban friends in Chicago and
business connections to the mail-order stores like Montgomery Ward, Sears,
etc. My parents had Cuban-Chinese friends in Rogers Park, on Howard
Street, near Evanston, Illinois. Even now, the far north communities of
Edgewater by Lake Michigan, Rogers Park, Andersonville, and Evanston still
appeal to my family in general. Military friends from the Great Lakes and
visitors from the USA encouraged my Mother and Father to leave Santiago de
Cuba.

Chicago Catholic Charities welcomed my family with open arms, kindness,
generosity, and goodwill when we arrived in July 1971. My Father, Mr.
Roberto Hung Juris Doctor and my Mother, Mrs. Gardenia Fong Ramos, myself,
and my youngest brother, Roberto Santiago Hung were referred for relocation
to the Montfield Hotel at the corner of Sheffield and Belmont Avenue in the
Lake View neighborhood, near the Illinois Masonic Medical Center on
Wellington Street. Later, my Father was referred to a Baptist Church
Pastor, Fabio Abreu of Dominican descent and his Canadian-American wife for
relocation to the first floor of a Chicago home owned by Mrs. Marie Palmer,
a Protestant Lutheran American widow, his neighbor across the alley who
needed a responsible and reliable tenant with a family to help her maintain
here Chicago real estate property at 2930 North Albany between Wellington
and George, near Kedzie Avenue where Avondale Elementary School was
located, across from the Grace Lutheran Church.

The Baptist Pastor Fabio Abreu from the Dominican Republic and his Lutheran
American-German neighbor Mrs. Marie Palmer were heaven sent during our
relocation from the Montfield Hotel in Lakeview to the Avondale community
near Logan Square, not far from our Cuban-
Chinese friends, Fernando Wong and Yolanda Fen with two children, a
retarded daughter with spinal bifida, Zuling, and a male Fernandito Wong
Fen who wanted to be an architect engineer later in life. Afterwards,
Fernando and Yoli Wong had a daughter named Meiling who lived in the Rogers
Park community, near Evanston and Skokie in Illinois.

While I was attending Avondale Grammar School, on Kedzie Avenue, aka
Loganddale Elementary School, I used to participate in an abridged 6th
grade program, instead of the corresponding 8th grade program which I would
later trafer. Since my Mother had my Cuban grammar school transcripts, she
told the Principal in Santiago de Cuba that I had alread passed 6th, 7th,
and 8th grade programs in Santiago de Cubqa in Spanish.

The obvious problem for all of us was how to speak English, write in
English, and attend school of course, obviously, my family and I had to
make a transition from spoken Spanish to American English, fluently. There
were Free English courses and classes at the Casa Central in Logan Square,
Chicago, Illinois 60618, USA. My parents and I, used to practice speaking
English in Santiago de Cuba, later on, we, as a family began to speak
English at home in Chicago with the television programs of Sesame Street
and the Electric Company featuring Rita Moreno, among other television
personalities and talent,as well as other TV programs like Perry Mason,
classic western movies with John Wayne, and the musical songs of Doris Day,
Glen Miller's American Jazz band, Lawrence Welk, which we used to watch
before.

Soon, we made friends with the neighbors like Ludivinia "Ludi" Villareal,
whose family was Hispanic from Méjico and invited us to her birthday party
for "tostadas", tacos, etc. There were also Cuban-Americans like Armando
and his youngest brother who went to Avondale Elementary School also with
myself and my youngest brother Robert S. Hung. My 6th grade teacher was
Miss Honeywood and my English As A Second Language Teacher was Miss Pantos
who later married and changed her name. Later, I was double transferred to
8th grade with Mr. Herbert Hebel where I graduated with High Honors from
Avondale Elementary School.

In Chicago, my Father, Roberto Hung was able to find employment at the
warehouse in Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company. Later he
worked for Marshall Field's and the Theatrical Dance Supply Company.
Fernando and Yoli Wong Fen recomeded my Father to work for Felt-Products,
on McCormick Boulevard in Skokie, also known today as Federal Mogul, a
corporation in the automotive industry manufacturing "oil gaskets" with a
patented adhesive created and designed by Albert Mecklenburger, a
German-American from Berlin, Germany.

My Mother also had to get a job with Goldblatt's on Milwaukee Avenue, right
in the midst of the Polish American neighborhood. Then, she found another
part-time job at Tic-Toc with Mrs. Sherman. Later, my Father recommended
her to work for Felt-Products with him in Skokie, also.

I started working at the Offices of Edelstein & Edelstein on Irivng Park
Road who needed to make collection calls on the telephone and paid a
minimum wage of $4 per hour. Afterrwards, I found a job at McDonald's at
the corner of Irving Park Road and Elston Avenue, not far from the Irving
Park Shopping Center, the Y.M.C.A. and Madonna High School.

In order to *"Make Ends Meet"*, both my Father and Mother went to work, and
during my 3rd year as a junior at Madonna High School, age 16-years-old,
Sister Rosemarie from Counselling referred me to get a job and follow the
American Dream working hard to make a living. Mrs. Palmer used to say
before she left for work as an Administrator and Office Manager at the
Civic Opera, *"I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."*

*Chicago* is also known as the Windy City because of the cross-winds across
Lake Michigan cause whirlwinds and all-changing weather due to the Lake
Effect and the Great Lakes. It is still a beautiful city by the Lake
Michigan, *"the city with the broad shoulders"* as a client and friend from
Helsinki, Finland, calls the City of Chicago. Mrs. Marie Palmer used to
tell me, *"if you don't like the weather in Chicago, wait a minute, it will
change."*

I have grown up in Chicago for the last 46 years on the Northwest side of
the Windy City and attended and graduated from Northeastern Illinois
University after graduating from Madonna High School on May 27, 1977 with
High Honors, as a member of the National Honor Society and the French Honor
Society. Later, I pursued Graduate Studies at the University of Illinois
at Chicago with the *Abraham Lincoln Fellowship for Rhetorical Criticism,
Speech Writing, Communications, and Theatre* granted by the UIC Department
of Communications and Theatre managed by Dr. Anthony Graham-White. I have
written my Master's Thesis as an ethnography about *"The Chinese in Cuba:
Assimilation and Acculturation*" presented by Dr. Thomas Kochman, Ph.D.

The City of Chicago celebrates today 180 years since its founding fathers
established the settlement by the Chicago River and used the name
familiarly with the *"wild onions"* growing by the river banks. *"Happy
180th Birthday Anniversary, Chicago!"*

I have rented and lived in a studio apartment on the Northwest side of
Chicago near my Father, Mr. Roberto Hung Juris Doctor, on Sacramento and
Belle Plaine, near Irving Park Road, in a building owned by Mrs. A.C.
Nylen, a German-American realtor in Chicago and the Midwest.

My Mother, Mrs. Gardenia Fong Ramos began to work at Felt-Products Inc. and
attended Loyola University Lewis Towers Campus pursuing a Master's in
Spanish Literature with Dr. Martinez, Dr. Carol Holdsworth, and Dr. Luján.

Chicago has always represented the spirit of its community people to
prevail and overcome adversity in the challenges that life brings over
time, place, and physical presence. The people of Chicago have a fighting
spirit to survive and fight for justice, equity, and fairness. Chicago is
today a cosmopolitan metropolis and a credit to its sprawling communities
by Lake Michigan in the state of Illinois, USA. Happy 180th Anniversary,
Chicago!

The Chicago River

Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.
Consulting Social Media Arts Communications

en.gravatar.com/gardeniahung
www.intranslations.blogspot.com
www.coroflot.com/gardeniahung
www.linkedin.com/in/gardeniahung
www.vimeo.com/consultingmedia
www.vimeo.com/communicatemedia
www.vimeo.com/languagesculture

© All Rights Reserved

On the 180th birthday anniversary for the City of Chicago founded on March
4, 1837, I remember why Chicago was the choice I made for a destination.
When my parents decided to live in the United States of America, I was
living in the Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba and attending elementary
school in Spanish. One day, my Mother told me that both my parents decided
to leave Santiago de Cuba and settle in another city of the United States
of America. She asked me in which city we should live? There were many
choices of cities based on the family relatives who were already in the
USA. Since Catholic Charities sponsored the Freedom Flights, "Vuelos de
Libertad", the Catholic Church offered help in Connecticut and Chicago to
relocate Cuban families there. My Mother and Father thought that
Connecticut was very, very cold and farther north in the East Coast. While
Chicago was in the Midwest, a city by Lake Michigan, one of the Great
Lakes--Erie, Huron, and Superior. My parents had Cuban friends in
Connecticut and Chicago, as well as in other American cities. However, the
City of Chicago was unanimously our choice for a destination in the United
States of America. My Grandmother had Cuban friends in Chicago and
business connections to the mail-order stores like Montgomery Ward, Sears,
etc. My parents had Cuban-Chinese friends in Rogers Park, on Howard
Street, near Evanston, Illinois. Even now, the far north communities of
Edgewater by Lake Michigan, Rogers Park, Andersonville, and Evanston still
appeal to my family in general. Military friends from the Great Lakes and
visitors from the USA encouraged my Mother and Father to leave Santiago de
Cuba.

Chicago Catholic Charities welcomed my family with open arms, kindness,
generosity, and goodwill when we arrived in July 1971. My Father, Mr.
Roberto Hung Juris Doctor and my Mother, Mrs. Gardenia Fong Ramos, myself,
and my youngest brother, Roberto Santiago Hung were referred for relocation
to the Montfield Hotel at the corner of Sheffield and Belmont Avenue in the
Lake View neighborhood, near the Illinois Masonic Medical Center on
Wellington Street. Later, my Father was referred to a Baptist Church
Pastor, Fabio Abreu of Dominican descent and his Canadian-American wife for
relocation to the first floor of a Chicago home owned by Mrs. Marie Palmer,
a Protestant Lutheran American widow, his neighbor across the alley who
needed a responsible and reliable tenant with a family to help her maintain
here Chicago real estate property at 2930 North Albany between Wellington
and George, near Kedzie Avenue where Avondale Elementary School was
located, across from the Grace Lutheran Church.

The Baptist Pastor Fabio Abreu from the Dominican Republic and his Lutheran
American-German neighbor Mrs. Marie Palmer were heaven sent during our
relocation from the Montfield Hotel in Lakeview to the Avondale community
near Logan Square, not far from our Cuban-
Chinese friends, Fernando Wong and Yolanda Fen with two children, a
retarded daughter with spinal bifida, Zuling, and a male Fernandito Wong
Fen who wanted to be an architect engineer later in life. Afterwards,
Fernando and Yoli Wong had a daughter named Meiling who lived in the Rogers
Park community, near Evanston and Skokie in Illinois.

While I was attending Avondale Grammar School, on Kedzie Avenue, aka
Loganddale Elementary School, I used to participate in an abridged 6th
grade program, instead of the corresponding 8th grade program which I would
later trafer. Since my Mother had my Cuban grammar school transcripts, she
told the Principal in Santiago de Cuba that I had alread passed 6th, 7th,
and 8th grade programs in Santiago de Cubqa in Spanish.

The obvious problem for all of us was how to speak English, write in
English, and attend school of course, obviously, my family and I had to
make a transition from spoken Spanish to American English, fluently. There
were Free English courses and classes at the Casa Central in Logan Square,
Chicago, Illinois 60618, USA. My parents and I, used to practice speaking
English in Santiago de Cuba, later on, we, as a family began to speak
English at home in Chicago with the television programs of Sesame Street
and the Electric Company featuring Rita Moreno, among other television
personalities and talent,as well as other TV programs like Perry Mason,
classic western movies with John Wayne, and the musical songs of Doris Day,
Glen Miller's American Jazz band, Lawrence Welk, which we used to watch
before.

Soon, we made friends with the neighbors like Ludivinia "Ludi" Villareal,
whose family was Hispanic from Méjico and invited us to her birthday party
for "tostadas", tacos, etc. There were also Cuban-Americans like Armando
and his youngest brother who went to Avondale Elementary School also with
myself and my youngest brother Robert S. Hung. My 6th grade teacher was
Miss Honeywood and my English As A Second Language Teacher was Miss Pantos
who later married and changed her name. Later, I was double transferred to
8th grade with Mr. Herbert Hebel where I graduated with High Honors from
Avondale Elementary School.

In Chicago, my Father, Roberto Hung was able to find employment at the
warehouse in Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company. Later he
worked for Marshall Field's and the Theatrical Dance Supply Company.
Fernando and Yoli Wong Fen recomeded my Father to work for Felt-Products,
on McCormick Boulevard in Skokie, also known today as Federal Mogul, a
corporation in the automotive industry manufacturing "oil gaskets" with a
patented adhesive created and designed by Albert Mecklenburger, a
German-American from Berlin, Germany.

My Mother also had to get a job with Goldblatt's on Milwaukee Avenue, right
in the midst of the Polish American neighborhood. Then, she found another
part-time job at Tic-Toc with Mrs. Sherman. Later, my Father recommended
her to work for Felt-Products with him in Skokie, also.

I started working at the Offices of Edelstein & Edelstein on Irivng Park
Road who needed to make collection calls on the telephone and paid a
minimum wage of $4 per hour. Afterrwards, I found a job at McDonald's at
the corner of Irving Park Road and Elston Avenue, not far from the Irving
Park Shopping Center, the Y.M.C.A. and Madonna High School.

In order to *"Make Ends Meet"*, both my Father and Mother went to work, and
during my 3rd year as a junior at Madonna High School, age 16-years-old,
Sister Rosemarie from Counselling referred me to get a job and follow the
American Dream working hard to make a living. Mrs. Palmer used to say
before she left for work as an Administrator and Office Manager at the
Civic Opera, *"I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."*

*Chicago* is also known as the Windy City because of the cross-winds across
Lake Michigan cause whirlwinds and all-changing weather due to the Lake
Effect and the Great Lakes. It is still a beautiful city by the Lake
Michigan, *"the city with the broad shoulders"* as a client and friend from
Helsinki, Finland, calls the City of Chicago. Mrs. Marie Palmer used to
tell me, *"if you don't like the weather in Chicago, wait a minute, it will
change."*

I have grown up in Chicago for the last 46 years on the Northwest side of
the Windy City and attended and graduated from Northeastern Illinois
University after graduating from Madonna High School on May 27, 1977 with
High Honors, as a member of the National Honor Society and the French Honor
Society. Later, I pursued Graduate Studies at the University of Illinois
at Chicago with the *Abraham Lincoln Fellowship for Rhetorical Criticism,
Speech Writing, Communications, and Theatre* granted by the UIC Department
of Communications and Theatre managed by Dr. Anthony Graham-White. I have
written my Master's Thesis as an ethnography about *"The Chinese in Cuba:
Assimilation and Acculturation*" presented by Dr. Thomas Kochman, Ph.D.

The City of Chicago celebrates today 180 years since its founding fathers
established the settlement by the Chicago River and used the name
familiarly with the *"wild onions"* growing by the river banks. *"Happy
180th Birthday Anniversary, Chicago!"*

I have rented and lived in a studio apartment on the Northwest side of
Chicago near my Father, Mr. Roberto Hung Juris Doctor, on Sacramento and
Belle Plaine, near Irving Park Road, in a building owned by Mrs. A.C.
Nylen, a German-American realtor in Chicago and the Midwest.

My Mother, Mrs. Gardenia Fong Ramos began to work at Felt-Products Inc. and
attended Loyola University Lewis Towers Campus pursuing a Master's in
Spanish Literature with Dr. Martinez, Dr. Carol Holdsworth, and Dr. Luján.

Chicago has always represented the spirit of its community people to
prevail and overcome adversity in the challenges that life brings over
time, place, and physical presence. The people of Chicago have a fighting
spirit to survive and fight for justice, equity, and fairness. Chicago is
today a cosmopolitan metropolis and a credit to its sprawling communities
by Lake Michigan in the state of Illinois, USA. Happy 180th Anniversary,
Chicago!

The Chicago River

Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.
Consulting Social Media Arts Communications

en.gravatar.com/gardeniahung
www.intranslations.blogspot.com
www.coroflot.com/gardeniahung
www.linkedin.com/in/gardeniahung
www.vimeo.com/consultingmedia
www.vimeo.com/communicatemedia
www.vimeo.com/languagesculture

© All Rights Reserved

During the month of July, the Edgewater Senior Center celebrates birthday
anniversaries during the Golden Diner Senior Luncheon. On Tuesdays, there
is a weekly Social Bingo Game after lunch.
Both D.C. and Richard Casino are celebrating their birthday anniversaries
in July 2017.

Special Gourmet Key Lime Pie and Fresh Summer Fruit Are Healthy Birthday
Desserts.

Baked Cookies Add To The Festivities During July 2017.

Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.
Consulting Social Media Arts Communications
www.facebook.com/gardeniac.hungma
plus.google.com/u/0/+GCHung
en.gravatar.com/gardeniahung
www.visualcv.com/hung
www.intranslations.blogspot.com
www.coroflot.com/gardeniahung
www.linkedin.com/in/gardeniahung
www.vimeo.com/consultingmedia
www.vimeo.com/communicatemedia
www.vimeo.com/languagesculture

© All Rights Reserved

This Friday morning, I woke up suddenly, when I found a Christian friend
calling me after midnight. The Christian friend tapped me while I was
sleeping. The big smile showed me that finding me was a big reward. I was
half asleep when I sensed another Christian person around me. Acknowledging
the Christian presence, I thanked God or shall we say, Jehovah! Still in a
Cuban dream, in my sleeping mind, my spirit had already returned to my body
to acknowledge the Christian presence in front of me. I was looking at the
Christian friend in front of me, who found me after midnight, early
morning, on July 15, 2016. Having recognized my face, the Christian friend
was pleased and walked past me on the way back from whence it came. I must
be "dreaming in Cuban". Then, I got up, walked around to wake up fully, and
found a white plastic bag with Korean "kimchi" food inside, as well as two
(2) pancakes wrapped in plastic and more Asian chop suey. The Christian
friend had brought me Korean Asian food and left it behind after walking
away in a dream after midnight.

Thank God It Is Friday, July 15, 2016!

Four (4) months ago, I virtually befriended a special person in Facebook
who invited me to have morning Coffee during our Chat session, My virtual
friend invited me to have a cup of coffee early morning. So, I agreed to
have a cup of coffee during our virtual Chat.

Friday is always a special day for me and God is miraculous. This morning I
was standing by the CTA bus stop, waiting, when I a tall white man wearing
a cap walked up to me and gave me some money to have breakfast today. I was
surprised and said, "Thank You." While the white man walked away quickly.

Thank God It Is Friday! I really needed help this morning to have
something to eat. I have not been eating regular meals, only when I can get
some help. I do not have any money since my brother Robert S. Hung returned
from our Family Reunion in Santiago de Cuba, on Friday, 29 April 2016.
Robert S. Hung locked me out of our apartment at 1060 West Hollywood Avenue
#313 in Chicago, Illinois 60660 USA. I have been displaced for the last
three (3) months in the historic Bryn Mawr District, Edgewater
neighborhood, North Chicago by Lake Michigan in Illinois.

Today I walked to the Coffee Shop and got a cup of American coffee with
cream and sugar, for breakfast with a New York Sesame Seed Bagel. This
Friday morning, I remembered my virtual Facebook friend and our first
Coffee Chat.

Two days ago, I found a digital photo of my estranged spouse Nathan Scott
Wittler Patriquin in my Facebook Messenger gallery. How did I get a recent
digital photo of Nate in time for his 58th birthday anniversary on Friday,
July 15, 2016? I have already posted Nate's digital photo on the world
wide web to wish him a Happy 58th Birthday Anniversary in the year 2016.

During a Messenger virtual chat, my Facebook friend, posted a digital photo
of Nathan Scott Wittler Patriquin, among other photos, to my surprise! It
is amazing how my virtual friend gets to know my estranged spouse Nathan
Scott. I have not seen Nate since July 2001, fifteen (15) years ago, when
he drove off to the east coast of New England with his youngest sister
Heather, his brother-in-law John and daughter Brianna in their pick-up
truck, from the Village of Lombard in District 5, York Township, Du Page
County, Illinois USA. I have been "separated" from Nate for the last 15
years. Nate is now living in the Edgewater neighborhood by Lake Michigan in
Chicago, Ilinois USA. Happy 58th Birthday Anniversary, Nate!

However, my virtual friend has telephoned Nathan Scott to introduce himself
and get to know him, as my estranged spouse, since they are both from New
York, New York. They both know that I am still displaced in tthe Edgewater
district, in need of human comforts like food, lodging, clothing, household
amenities, and sanitary facilities. In addition, they are well aware that
my youngest brother Robert S. Hung is not providing any cash money or food
to help me during the displacement period in the historic Bryn Mawr
district. After our Family Reunion in Santiago de Cuba on April 2016, my
youngest brother Robert S. Hung, has removed me from the Hollywood building
and set me up to be on the streets of Chicago without any money, food,
and/or lodging accommodations or bathroom facilities.

While I was sipping my morning Coffee, I was thinking about my viirtual
Facebook friend, my estranged spouse's 58th birthday, and my predicament
over displacement in the Edgewater neighborhood during the summer of 2016.

Thank You for remembering our first virtual Coffee Chat on Messenger, my
friend. Virtually, your thoughts come to mind, even in the Edgewater
neighborhood, "whether near to me, or far. It's no matter "darling" where
you are..." I am grateful for the digital photo of Nathan Scott you posted
on Messenger, especially since today is Nate's birthday and I have not seen
him, met him, or called him in the last fifteen (15) years.

On Friday, July 15th, Nate is probably surprised by the accolade of his
birthday celebration, world-wide, and the numerous phone calls, the
presents, the attention, and most of all, the out-of-town visitors who have
come far and wide to greet him and wish Nathan Scott, A Happy Birthday
Anniversary In 2016!

New York could not be prouder of Nathan Scott since he lived in the urban
jungle of the Big Apple where he went to school in Harlem, New York. While
his parents Reverend Melvin A. Wittler and Mrs. Nancy Wittler Patriquin
were Christian missionaries on furlough for the World Couincil of Churches
in New York, the children attended public school in Harlem. Nate always
talks about his early life in the mean streets of New York, USA.

Nathan Scott Wittler Patriquin is always in a New York state-of-mind, even
when he actually lives in the Land of Lincoln, Illinois.

From one New Yorker to another, my virtual friend being one, and Nate,
being the other, they have both become acquainted by getting to know me
better in the year 2016, since they share common interests and friends as
Christian missionaries. It is amazing how my life has made a full turn
around to find similar people from New York, once again. Somehow, I always
meet Christian missionary friends and their families from the World Council
of Churches and missions around Africa. How come Nathan Scott never talks
to me, does not telephone me, reach out to me as his estranged spouse or
even invite me to a meal, when he knows that I am in need of nourishment
and home comfort?

How I wish Nathan Scott would invite me to his 58th Birthday Anniversary
Celebration Breakfast. Luncheon. and Dinner Party? I am near enough his
building condominium in the Edgewater neighborhood, Chicago, Illinois USA.

My virtual friend may well be the peace maker as a Christian missionary,
God Bless HIs Soul!

Thank God It Is Friday, 15 July 2016!

Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.
Consulting Social Media Arts Communications
twtbizcard.com/GHungMa
en.gravatar.com/gardeniahung
www.consultingmedia-arts-comm.zoomshare.com
www.intranslations.blogspot.com
www.coroflot.com/gardeniahung
www.linkedin.com/in/gardeniahung
www.vimeo.com/consultingmedia
www.vimeo.com/communicatemedia
www.vimeo.com/languagesculture

© All Rights Reserved

On the 180th birthday anniversary for the City of Chicago founded on March
4, 1837, I remember why Chicago was the choice I made for a destination.
When my parents decided to live in the United States of America, I was
living in the Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba and attending elementary
school in Spanish. One day, my Mother told me that both my parents decided
to leave Santiago de Cuba and settle in another city of the United States
of America. She asked me in which city we should live? There were many
choices of cities based on the family relatives who were already in the
USA. Since Catholic Charities sponsored the Freedom Flights, "Vuelos de
Libertad", the Catholic Church offered help in Connecticut and Chicago to
relocate Cuban families there. My Mother and Father thought that
Connecticut was very, very cold and farther north in the East Coast. While
Chicago was in the Midwest, a city by Lake Michigan, one of the Great
Lakes--Erie, Huron, and Superior. My parents had Cuban friends in
Connecticut and Chicago, as well as in other American cities. However, the
City of Chicago was unanimously our choice for a destination in the United
States of America. My Grandmother had Cuban friends in Chicago and
business connections to the mail-order stores like Montgomery Ward, Sears,
etc. My parents had Cuban-Chinese friends in Rogers Park, on Howard
Street, near Evanston, Illinois. Even now, the far north communities of
Edgewater by Lake Michigan, Rogers Park, Andersonville, and Evanston still
appeal to my family in general. Military friends from the Great Lakes and
visitors from the USA encouraged my Mother and Father to leave Santiago de
Cuba.

Chicago Catholic Charities welcomed my family with open arms, kindness,
generosity, and goodwill when we arrived in July 1971. My Father, Mr.
Roberto Hung Juris Doctor and my Mother, Mrs. Gardenia Fong Ramos, myself,
and my youngest brother, Roberto Santiago Hung were referred for relocation
to the Montfield Hotel at the corner of Sheffield and Belmont Avenue in the
Lake View neighborhood, near the Illinois Masonic Medical Center on
Wellington Street. Later, my Father was referred to a Baptist Church
Pastor, Fabio Abreu of Dominican descent and his Canadian-American wife for
relocation to the first floor of a Chicago home owned by Mrs. Marie Palmer,
a Protestant Lutheran American widow, his neighbor across the alley who
needed a responsible and reliable tenant with a family to help her maintain
here Chicago real estate property at 2930 North Albany between Wellington
and George, near Kedzie Avenue where Avondale Elementary School was
located, across from the Grace Lutheran Church.

The Baptist Pastor Fabio Abreu from the Dominican Republic and his Lutheran
American-German neighbor Mrs. Marie Palmer were heaven sent during our
relocation from the Montfield Hotel in Lakeview to the Avondale community
near Logan Square, not far from our Cuban-
Chinese friends, Fernando Wong and Yolanda Fen with two children, a
retarded daughter with spinal bifida, Zuling, and a male Fernandito Wong
Fen who wanted to be an architect engineer later in life. Afterwards,
Fernando and Yoli Wong had a daughter named Meiling who lived in the Rogers
Park community, near Evanston and Skokie in Illinois.

While I was attending Avondale Grammar School, on Kedzie Avenue, aka
Loganddale Elementary School, I used to participate in an abridged 6th
grade program, instead of the corresponding 8th grade program which I would
later trafer. Since my Mother had my Cuban grammar school transcripts, she
told the Principal in Santiago de Cuba that I had alread passed 6th, 7th,
and 8th grade programs in Santiago de Cubqa in Spanish.

The obvious problem for all of us was how to speak English, write in
English, and attend school of course, obviously, my family and I had to
make a transition from spoken Spanish to American English, fluently. There
were Free English courses and classes at the Casa Central in Logan Square,
Chicago, Illinois 60618, USA. My parents and I, used to practice speaking
English in Santiago de Cuba, later on, we, as a family began to speak
English at home in Chicago with the television programs of Sesame Street
and the Electric Company featuring Rita Moreno, among other television
personalities and talent,as well as other TV programs like Perry Mason,
classic western movies with John Wayne, and the musical songs of Doris Day,
Glen Miller's American Jazz band, Lawrence Welk, which we used to watch
before.

Soon, we made friends with the neighbors like Ludivinia "Ludi" Villareal,
whose family was Hispanic from Méjico and invited us to her birthday party
for "tostadas", tacos, etc. There were also Cuban-Americans like Armando
and his youngest brother who went to Avondale Elementary School also with
myself and my youngest brother Robert S. Hung. My 6th grade teacher was
Miss Honeywood and my English As A Second Language Teacher was Miss Pantos
who later married and changed her name. Later, I was double transferred to
8th grade with Mr. Herbert Hebel where I graduated with High Honors from
Avondale Elementary School.

In Chicago, my Father, Roberto Hung was able to find employment at the
warehouse in Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company. Later he
worked for Marshall Field's and the Theatrical Dance Supply Company.
Fernando and Yoli Wong Fen recomeded my Father to work for Felt-Products,
on McCormick Boulevard in Skokie, also known today as Federal Mogul, a
corporation in the automotive industry manufacturing "oil gaskets" with a
patented adhesive created and designed by Albert Mecklenburger, a
German-American from Berlin, Germany.

My Mother also had to get a job with Goldblatt's on Milwaukee Avenue, right
in the midst of the Polish American neighborhood. Then, she found another
part-time job at Tic-Toc with Mrs. Sherman. Later, my Father recommended
her to work for Felt-Products with him in Skokie, also.

I started working at the Offices of Edelstein & Edelstein on Irivng Park
Road who needed to make collection calls on the telephone and paid a
minimum wage of $4 per hour. Afterrwards, I found a job at McDonald's at
the corner of Irving Park Road and Elston Avenue, not far from the Irving
Park Shopping Center, the Y.M.C.A. and Madonna High School.

In order to *"Make Ends Meet"*, both my Father and Mother went to work, and
during my 3rd year as a junior at Madonna High School, age 16-years-old,
Sister Rosemarie from Counselling referred me to get a job and follow the
American Dream working hard to make a living. Mrs. Palmer used to say
before she left for work as an Administrator and Office Manager at the
Civic Opera, *"I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."*

*Chicago* is also known as the Windy City because of the cross-winds across
Lake Michigan cause whirlwinds and all-changing weather due to the Lake
Effect and the Great Lakes. It is still a beautiful city by the Lake
Michigan, *"the city with the broad shoulders"* as a client and friend from
Helsinki, Finland, calls the City of Chicago. Mrs. Marie Palmer used to
tell me, *"if you don't like the weather in Chicago, wait a minute, it will
change."*

I have grown up in Chicago for the last 46 years on the Northwest side of
the Windy City and attended and graduated from Northeastern Illinois
University after graduating from Madonna High School on May 27, 1977 with
High Honors, as a member of the National Honor Society and the French Honor
Society. Later, I pursued Graduate Studies at the University of Illinois
at Chicago with the *Abraham Lincoln Fellowship for Rhetorical Criticism,
Speech Writing, Communications, and Theatre* granted by the UIC Department
of Communications and Theatre managed by Dr. Anthony Graham-White. I have
written my Master's Thesis as an ethnography about *"The Chinese in Cuba:
Assimilation and Acculturation*" presented by Dr. Thomas Kochman, Ph.D.

The City of Chicago celebrates today 180 years since its founding fathers
established the settlement by the Chicago River and used the name
familiarly with the *"wild onions"* growing by the river banks. *"Happy
180th Birthday Anniversary, Chicago!"*

I have rented and lived in a studio apartment on the Northwest side of
Chicago near my Father, Mr. Roberto Hung Juris Doctor, on Sacramento and
Belle Plaine, near Irving Park Road, in a building owned by Mrs. A.C.
Nylen, a German-American realtor in Chicago and the Midwest.

My Mother, Mrs. Gardenia Fong Ramos began to work at Felt-Products Inc. and
attended Loyola University Lewis Towers Campus pursuing a Master's in
Spanish Literature with Dr. Martinez, Dr. Carol Holdsworth, and Dr. Luján.

Chicago has always represented the spirit of its community people to
prevail and overcome adversity in the challenges that life brings over
time, place, and physical presence. The people of Chicago have a fighting
spirit to survive and fight for justice, equity, and fairness. Chicago is
today a cosmopolitan metropolis and a credit to its sprawling communities
by Lake Michigan in the state of Illinois, USA. Happy 180th Anniversary,
Chicago!

The Chicago River

Gardenia C. Hung, M.A., B.A.
Consulting Social Media Arts Communications

en.gravatar.com/gardeniahung
www.intranslations.blogspot.com
www.coroflot.com/gardeniahung
www.linkedin.com/in/gardeniahung
www.vimeo.com/consultingmedia
www.vimeo.com/communicatemedia
www.vimeo.com/languagesculture

© All Rights Reserved