50 for 50: 1972

YEAR: 1972

AGE: Turned 2 on Nov. 6

LOCATION: Chicago, apartment on Kildare and on New England and Irving Park

BEARS' RECORD: 4-9-1

My mom told me this story on how our family landed in our second apartment. Grandma was driving her and me back from the Harlem-Irving Plaza, even then known as the HIP, when they passed an apartment for rent across from the sprawling acres of land known as Dunning, which was Chicago's mental institution. That sounds creepy, but the actual street is a couple hundred yards away from any building. Plus, the apartment was bigger and needed to be -- my sister Julie was on the way.

Mom liked the apartment, which was also nicer than our current one. She had been using a diaper service for my tender tush but offered to give it up if Dad agreed to move to the building just off New England Avenue. Already, I lost something because I was the oldest child! Julie arrived in July, and by all accounts, I was happy to have a little sister.

I have a vague, vague recollection of the New England apartment, and that might only be from pictures. It was close to her doctor's office, and Mom was able to put me in the buggy and walk to appointments. I find it a little funny I lived closer to the HIP than I did later, when that was the mall I hung out in. 

Of course, I wasn't even 2 for most of the year, so I don't really remember anything. Instead, I wonder what living in 1972 was like. There's an early '70s vibe you get from TV shows and movies and music, but it's a bit strange knowing you were alive during a period of time but possess no concept of what that felt like. 

As the '70s progressed, I can remember how my parents dressed, the cars they drove, the books they read, and their reactions to much that was happening around them and in the world. Before 1975 or so, I can only guess. Did they dress like Gloria and Mike from "All in the Family?" Were they outraged by Watergate? Did they turn up the radio when WLS or WCFL played "Brandy" or "A Horse with No Name" or "Saturday in the Park?" What did they dream and worry about at a time when the world was a bit chaotic and uncertain for young people -- particularly young parents?

I was there for it and I wasn't. I can just look at the pictures, watch and listen to the pop culture, and ask my parents what it was like, then imagine myself in that world.