LARRY'S FINAL THOUGHTS

 First off, I'm sorry for the delay in posting Larry's final thoughts but incredibly, the night before we were supposed to do the final editing of this post, his cousin was shot and seriously wounded in Garfield Park on the west side of the city. It was touch & go for a while but he will recover in time. FYI--Larry's cousin is a church deacon and was walking his dog when he was shot along with two other members of the church.

"I've gone over our last two transcripts and I realize that some of the language was harsh but there will be no apology from me. If you live inside the city of Chicago, you live in a coward's world where the police are outnumbered 10 to 1 and they have about a 20% chance of solving any homicide or shootings committed on these streets and the fucking animals will eventually rule the city.  Recent news events indicate that it doesn't matter where you live, north, south, whatever. Even the Gold Coast and Michigan avenue are fertile hunting grounds for these jackals.

I was born and raised in Chicago and I have spent my entire life inside these boundaries but recent history has prompted a decision that will affect three generations of my family. As the de facto patriarch of the family since my father died years ago,  I have decided to leave the city and take my mom and grandmother with me to the western suburbs along with two sisters and their husband and kids and although grandma will leave her house kicking and screaming, it's best for her and everyone else plus we already have a solid offer for her house.

I was at gramma's house the other day and she had her usual stack of Sun Times sitting next to her recliner and while she was doing her in-home therapy with the nurse, (recovering from a minor stroke) I went thru 17 days worth and EACH DAY had a shooting story within the first five pages but the stories that really grabbed my attention were the ones where innocent people were shot at and wounded but not seriously. Those stories were on page 18 or 19 and consisted of two or three sentences because non-life threatening shootings apparently aren't important anymore. That's when I made the decision.

I called a family meeting and attendance is always MANDATORY for all concerned in our family because these meetings don't happen very often. The last one was 4 years ago when we met to help my sister, who was struggling to pick a college. Gramma was not happy at missing Wheel of Fortune but she knew it was serious after my cousin's shooting. 14 members attended and my cousin zoomed in from Ohio where he attends the seminary.

I quickly reviewed the incidents of the last two years and told them I was afraid for the safety of EVERYONE in our family and that I thought it was best to relocate out of the city. We took a vote and it was 12-3 to head west. Gramma snorted but understood the rules of a family meeting because she ran them for years.

 I have quit my job in the city and accepted a new position 5 minutes from our new house. My sister is a manager at a nation wide company and she is transferring to a suburban location. The nephews will transfer to a new high school and their mom has quit her nursing job at Stroger hospital and has already been hired at a suburban hospital. We'll be fine once we settle in.

My family has been in this city since 1909 when my great grandfather moved her from Alabama and we have always been proud to say 'we're from Chicago' when we were on vacation but after 112 years, I hate to say it but the bad guys have won.

My final thoughts are simple and to the point. The police aren't perfect but you have to let them do their jobs and convince the bad guys that their way of life has consequences. In my neighborhood, EVERYONE knew officer Murphy when we were growing up and when you got in trouble, he basically kicked you in the ass and made you do clean-up work at the local park as your penance. He didn't call your parents or make a report....he just adjusted your attitude right there in the alley and life went on. And you'd better show up on your assigned clean-up day.

But God forbid if you lay a hand on these gang-banging niggers or assign them clean up duty because you will have a lawsuit handed to you within 48 hours and be suspended from the force so as a result, the officers now have taken a hands-off attitude and the animals run crazy. 

I have loved Chicago my entire life but the it's time to say good-bye. I have tears in my eyes as I write this but it's better than tears of despair, anger or sorrow which I know will happen if we stay. God bless and thank you for listening.