Editor’s note: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, our readers wrote to us to share what they’re grateful for. We are publishing their many letters over three days, concluding on Friday.
It’s hard to be a Chicagoan. The crime. The costs. The dysfunction. So, here is a list of things in Chicagoland I am thankful for:
Summer street festivals. Chicago house music DJs. The lakefront. Millennium Park. Paletas from La Michoacana Premium. Navy Pier fireworks. The scones from Little Branch Cafe. The cakes from Decadent Dessert Bar. Beauty Bar. The arcades. The nice restaurants. The neighborhood hole-in-the-wall restaurants. The Riverwalk in the summer. The stage shows. The pop-up Christmas markets. The myriad nonprofit organizations with people who do more work than anyone realizes. Ewa, the most efficient grocery checkout person you will ever find.
The roller skating rinks. The forest preserves. The proximity of O’Hare and Midway airports that allow me to get out of here on occasion. The Lincoln Park Zoo. The weather in the spring and fall. The Chicago Bayern Munich fan club and the staff at Cleo’s who deftly navigate the soccer crowds. The beaches. Protected bike lanes. My hairstylist, Shellie. The morning Red Line conductor who tells students, “Staaaaaay focused, and you’ll go far.” My faculty colleagues. My students who come to class ready and willing to learn and work. My doctors. The 101.9 The Mix morning show. The ABC7 news team. The WGN morning news team. The variety of organized running events. The Chicago Public Library.
So, from this Chicagoan to all of you, thank you for being hardy and resilient people who keep rooting for the home team.
— Sarah Buck, Chicago
Of course, I love and am always thankful for my dear family and friends, but on this Thanksgiving Day, I am especially thankful for the Greater Chicago Food Depository and all their volunteers and supporters who make it possible for so many area food pantries to continue to help with food insecurity, not just for this day but for every day.
I am also thankful for all the wonderful people who so generously give their time and energy to direct and volunteer at and allow these food pantries the ability to function. Our small pantry volunteers have become like a little family and tirelessly work to help others in need. We would not exist if not for the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s support.
Volunteers are desperately needed, and I would urge anyone who can give even a few hours a week to consider volunteering at the Greater Chicago Food Depository or your local food pantry. Let us never forget that food sustains life. Be thankful.
— Margaret Kushman, president, Broadview Food Pantry Board
Thanksgiving in America means family, good food, maybe even a little morning football and, for some, travel to be with loved ones. But while most of us are indulging in a great day, there are those who are missing out on the festivities. How thankful we should be to those who are working to keep us safe and secure as we spend our time with loved ones.
So to those indefatigable nurses, doctors and hospital workers, firefighters, police officers, airline employees and all those people who can’t be with family and loved ones, how thankful we are for your sacrifice.
A grateful community turns its eyes toward you.
— Bob Angone, Austin, Texas
For years now, whether the economic times have been up, down or middling, I don’t think we as a society have been pausing often enough to reflect on the good that permeates our lives. More recently, I’ve been giving thanks whenever I salute our nation’s flag, go to bed on a full stomach, indulge in my abundant retirement leisure time, check my bank statements, meet friends online or face to face, recall my late parents, walk in from the outdoors into my temperature-controlled and dry home, or simply contemplate the blessing of being born to appreciate often assumed things.
I do all this most days now. On Thanksgiving Day, I just add partaking turkey, yams and cranberry sauce to the list.
— Tom Gregg, Niles
This year, I am thankful for the flourishing news industry in Chicago.
When you consider that more than half of U.S. counties have no or very limited access to a news source, as detailed in a 2023 report by Northwestern University, Chicago’s news business appears to be thriving. We still have two daily newspapers, lots of broadcast stations and a competitive digital landscape. The Columbia Journalism Review said in 2019 that Chicago is our nation’s “news lab.”
It is a great city to be news reader and a journalist, especially here at the Trib. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
— Grace Miserocchi, opinion editor
On a personal note, I am deeply thankful for loyal friends, wonderful and fun colleagues, a loving family and the good health of those I love (even our aging dog, Winter). In a similarly personal vein, I am thankful indeed for the ongoing life, smarts and vitality of my faraway mum, now 100 years old. Or, as she prefers to say, 100 and a half. She is cared for in her own small home by the best neighbors in the world.
I am also thankful for what I read every day on these pages: our readers, engaging with what we and others have to say. Our letters editor likes to say that Tribune readers “never disappoint,” and she could not be more right. Granted, the occasional off-base cartoon gets me a mailbox full of irritation. But most of the time, I enjoy thoughtful, balanced and insightful responses to our work, typically born of wise insight, care for the city of Chicago and great life experience.
I can’t overstate how thankful I am for that. It makes all our work worthwhile.
— Chris Jones, editorial page editor
A note of gratitude to the Great Turkey:
Thank you for Thanksgiving fun
Thank you for my wife and son
Thank you for the songs we sing
Thanks, Great Turkey, for everything!
— Clarence Page, editorial board member and columnist
As a newcomer to the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, I’m grateful first and foremost for the opportunity to do this job. I appreciate the trust placed in me here and won’t take it for granted. On a lighter note, man, am I happy not to be traveling any farther than across town on Turkey Day itself.
Hope the day is meaningful for you all, whether you’re surrounded by family, hanging with a few friends or pleasuring in your own company.
— Stephen Daniels, editorial board member
I agree with letter writer Sarah Buck above. I’m grateful for Chicago — all its glimmer and grit — and how it’s challenged me and made me a more capable person. (Yes, I even love the disappointing and aggravating CTA.)
I tip my hat to journalism and what it has done for the public good. And personally, the awareness and compassion (and dark humor) it has birthed in me.
I am unendingly thankful for the many wonderful people I get to call friends — and especially for my two sisters, who often are the frying pan to the face I need when I’m getting full of myself. Family keeps you honest.
Lastly, I’m forever indebted to the people, my late mother chief among them, who have taught me that love is always the point.
Hearty cheers to our readers.
— Colleen Kujawa, opinion editor
Join the conversation in our Letters to the Editor Facebook group.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
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