It’s past time for the Chicago Teachers Union to come clean on its finances.

One of the oddest long-standing issues in Chicago politics has been CTU’s stubborn resistance over the past several years to sharing full audited financials with its own members, as the union’s bylaws seem to require. The union’s secretive ways, naturally, have prompted plenty of conspiracy-theorizing.

What could CTU be hiding? From its own members, no less?

The union reacted to these complaints at first by largely ignoring them. But as the drumbeat grew louder and the union was taken to court by several of its own members over the issue, CTU’s protestations took on the sort of tone we now too often associate with CTU’s leadership: ad hominem attacks.

Case in point: CTU President Stacy Davis Gates in 2023 derided a fellow union member who raised the audit issue in a Facebook forum as employing a racist “dog whistle.”

Reference to that exchange showed up in a Nov. 20 letter to Davis Gates from the GOP chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce, as well as a subcommittee chairman, requesting the multiple audits in question (five of them, dating back to 2020) as well as ancillary materials. The letter goes on to say that the materials will help the panel determine potential future federal legislation, presumably to ensure public-sector union members, whether in Chicago or elsewhere, have unfettered access to such basic information.

A lawyer for CTU responded Nov. 24 with a letter pledging to cooperate with any “legitimate requests.” The union’s lawyer expressed confidence that the materials the union will furnish by Dec. 22 will satisfy the committee, but the repetition of the word “legitimate” suggested the two sides may have some differences there. We’ll see.

In the meantime, litigation against CTU by several of its own members continues, with a Cook County Circuit Court judge set to rule soon on the union’s motion for summary judgment. That judge already ruled against CTU’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit.

All of this sturm und drang over something as seemingly benign as audits of books that shouldn’t be particularly complex is puzzling, to say the least.

Some have posited that CTU’s motivations so far are about hiding from its membership how much money it’s spending on political donations and lobbying, as member dues continue to rise. But the broad contours of the union’s political activities are well understood. It’s hardly a secret that CTU spends heavily on politics. Its very own former organizer installed in City Hall as mayor of Chicago attests to that obvious fact.

We confess not to understand why the union has been so recalcitrant on this issue to date. A lawyer representing CTU, Michael Bromwich, told the Chicago Sun-Times, “There is much less here than meets the eye.”

We hope so. But here’s a plain truth: If you don’t want to be accused of having something to hide, stop acting as if you do.

There should be no need for lawsuits or congressional inquiries. Make the full past audits available to all members in an easy-to-access fashion, CTU, and do so routinely going forward.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/editorial-chicago-teachers-union-audits-stacy-davis-gates-congress-lawsuit/ 

I spent a weekend with two lifelong friends recently and we were discussing all the ways our days — lives, really — have a way of getting away from us.

“And you know how guilty we feel doing anything for ourselves,” my friend said.

I don’t, actually.

I mean, I do. In theory. I know how our culture conspires to make us feel guilty. I know I have given into that guilt at different points. I know they have been my unhealthiest points. I know I’m trying not to return to those points.

I know my mom is my North Star on this. (On so many things. But especially on this.)

As a kid, I watched my mom make space and time for things she loved. Birding. Traveling. Long walks in the woods. Restoring natural areas to their native habitat. Always with friends. As an adult, I’m watching her continue to do these things.

If she felt guilty about any of it (and I hope she didn’t), she hasn’t shown it. Her joy looks purposeful and protected.

My dad, for his part, has never seemed anything but delighted by her joy. He generally gains happiness from other people’s happiness and no one more so than my mom. Their marriage is one of the most beautiful pairings I’ve witnessed in this life. I have tears in my eyes just typing this sentence.

I’m aware that what I saw on the outside doesn’t necessarily reveal the full range of conflict — internal or external — on the inside. But I’m also aware that what I saw gave me permission to prioritize friendship and adventure and purpose and joy. Not just permission, actually. A gentle, constant nudge toward them.

I’m also aware, especially in this season of gratitude, that this approach sits at the center of so much of what I cherish most in my life. And I have my mom to thank for that. Thank you, Mom, if you’re reading this.

In my Balancing Act Facebook group, I asked readers to share examples of people they’re grateful for, people who shaped their approach to life. Stories poured in. Here are a few.

“My maternal grandmother,” Susan Bendig wrote. “She became a nurse when women were expected to marry and not have a career. She encouraged me to become whatever I wanted to be. She always encouraged me during the difficult times when my parents did not. She has been gone a very long time, but I still hear her voice when I have to make a serious decision.”

Walter Faber wrote about his fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Arlene Langley.

“My dad died that year and I was an angry, lost little boy,” Faber wrote. “She encouraged me. Guided me. Taught me. Was patient with me, despite my bad behavior. She understood where it was all coming from. To say that woman saved my life is a gross understatement.”

For Judy Ferraro, it’s her Uncle Bernie, who died 3 years ago,

“He introduced me to Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald,” Ferraro wrote. “He brought me to Sox games that turned into me being a season ticket holder for nearly 40 years. He took me to joints in Chicago for pizza and burgers that were different than the suburban pizza and burgers I was used to. He brought me to Old Town where I developed a love for improv comedy. He loved talking politics with me. And he made me laugh til the day he died.”

Jessica Bazzarre Byerly will never forget her recess supervisor, Mrs. Carol Saines.

“When I moved in first grade to a new town and a new school, I was really shy and awkward,” Byerly wrote. “I had a really hard time making friends. I spent most recesses alone standing to the side in the cold watching the other kids play, praying that recess would end soon.”

Mrs. Saines noticed.

“She saw that I didn’t have anyone to play with or talk to and she came over one day and just started talking to me. She was wearing this big red coat and I thought she was a super hero. I thought she hung the moon in the sky and I looked for her at recess every day,” she wrote. “I kept in touch with her as I grew older and was thankfully able to eventually make some friends my own age. I never forgot her kindness. She passed away far too young from health complications when I was in middle school. Her funeral was the first one for a loved one I ever attended. Whenever I encounter someone who looks lonely, left out or needs a friend, I remember Mrs. Saines and try to go out of my way to make them feel cared for and included.”

Terry Parrilli wrote about her dad.

“He had four daughters and never made me think he longed for a son,” she wrote. “He taught us how to bait a hook and fish. Vacations to the big outdoors in the Midwest and Canada instilled a love of travel. Because of him, I became a fan of baseball, football, Indy cars, Mad magazine, feeding squirrels, cooking and growing tomatoes. He loved to entertain neighbors, old Navy buddies, co-workers and friends and threw boisterous theme parties. A kid at heart, he created a giant jack-o’-lantern ghost on a ladder with a sheet and broom to put in our window every Halloween. He treated everyone with respect and dignity. The garbage collectors, conductors on the train, custodians, cashiers, busboys and taxi drivers. I try to live my life as he did and make him proud. Sadly, he died young. But his influence on me is constant.”

These are just a few of the stories pouring in. I’ll include more in another column. If you have one, email me at heidikstevens@gmail.com. Or, even better, share it with someone you know and love so it can shape and sustain them too.

Join the Heidi Stevens Balancing Act Facebook group, where she continues the conversation around her columns and hosts occasional live chats.

Twitter @heidistevens13

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/heidi-stevens-holiday-gratitude/ 

What are your plans this Thanksgiving? You’ve almost certainly got the answer to that question locked down this close to the big day, and if you’re hosting you’d better have your bird pretty well thawed. 

Many of us are traveling to be with family — AAA projects 1.6 million more people will be traveling at least 50 miles this Thanksgiving compared with last year for a record-setting travel period.

But if you’re hosting, you’ve got a lot on your plate, literally and figuratively, and you’ve likely done a fair bit of budgeting as you figure out how to get enough food on the table. For our part, we were surprised to see headlines boasting that Thanksgiving dinner is relatively affordable this holiday season. The American Farm Bureau calculated the cost to feed a table of 10 is about $55.18 this year, down from $58.08 in 2024 and $61.17 in 2023.

That feels stunningly low for those of us used to paying $20 for lunch if we want to eat out during the workweek, but it makes sense when you consider that Amazon is selling 20-pound Butterball turkeys for $10. Once you get the centerpiece dish, the rest of the fixings can be bought relatively cheap, and so we can see how that $55 tab isn’t so far-fetched after all if you’re buying on a budget. Of course, there are higher-end, more expensive birds, but we’re speaking in generalities, and Butterball is a popular name brand this holiday season, even if it’s not everyone’s first choice. The AFB calculated the average price for a 16-pound turkey is about $21.50, with rolls costing less than $4 and sweet potatoes just $4 for three pounds. Last we checked, you can get four sticks of butter for less than $5 at Mariano’s. 

We’ll stop there with the price inventory — you get the idea. Yet even after acknowledging the affordability of these staple items, we’re left wondering how it’s possible that Thanksgiving is cheaper this year while so many Americans feel stretched thin.

In some ways, the headlines heralding how reasonable it is to purchase your Thanksgiving meal could be viewed as a rediscovery: Yes, it’s more affordable to cook your own food instead of eating or ordering out, and $55 goes a lot further at the grocery store than a restaurant. Cooking from scratch remains one of the few places where families can beat inflation, even while broader food prices remain uncomfortably high.

Food costs aren’t dropping out of the headlines any time soon, and groceries that used to be dirt cheap have jumped to jaw-dropping prices (a bag of potato chips runs you nearly $7 today compared with about $4.50 before COVID). Consumers don’t measure inflation by holiday meals. They measure it by grocery trips, school lunches, snacks and takeout. 

Thanksgiving dinner is cheaper this year, but it doesn’t feel that way because the things we buy weekly — snacks, lunch out, coffee, convenience foods — have increased so much that our baseline expectations are warped. We aren’t reacting to turkey prices; we’re reacting to the accumulated fatigue of two years of stubborn inflation. 

Still, even in a year marked by price fatigue, it’s worth highlighting bright spots.

Thanksgiving dinner is cheaper this year, and that’s something to be grateful for. In a season when so much feels out of our control, it’s reassuring to know that gathering around a table and cooking for the people we love remains one of the few traditions that hasn’t been priced out of reach.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/thanksgiving-food-prices-turkey-costs/ 

You can hear the sound upon entering the American Writers Museum. It is the sound of typewriters, that ancient writing instrument, being banged on by a bunch of first and second graders on a school field trip.

It was last Thursday and, as usual on most any school days, the museum was an active place, not only with kids but with a staff eager in anticipation of the opening of its latest exhibition.

“American Prophets” opened Friday in one of the city’s youngest but also one of its most important places, an increasingly artful blend of information, entertainment and enlightenment.

It was born in 2009 when Malcolm O’Hagan, a successful engineer and businessman, was visiting his native Ireland and wandered into the Dublin Writers Museum. Soon discovering that the United States had no such institution — among the country’s estimated 35,000 museums, Chicago has more than a few, from the Art Institute to the Chicago Fed’s Money Museum — he began the work and raised the money that enabled his dream.

Dublin’s museum, crippled by COVID, closed in 2020, but the American Writers Museum opened in May 2017 in a second-floor space at 180 N. Michigan Ave. And there it is now, a flashy and interactive space, punctuated by touchscreens, games and other modern gizmos and a lot of books too.

The latest addition to its typewriters is one once used by Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the prominent advocate of physician-assisted suicide. Also new is Oscar Brown Jr. (singer, actor, poet, playwright, civil rights activist and if I may suggest one of his songs, “Brother Where Are Thou?”) in the form of a banner in a gathering of banners honoring local authors.

I was happy to see him last week as I wandered through “American Prophets” — he and his work are part of that too — with the museum’s president Carey Cranston, director Chris Burrow and manager of content and exhibits manager Nate King, seemingly pleased at the culmination of their two-year-long journey. Its full title is  “American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture” and is funded by a Lilly Endowment.

American Writers Museum president Carey Cranston, left, and content and exhibits manager Nate King are seen with their exhibit “American Prophets” at the American Writers Museum in Chicago on Nov. 20, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

It is, like most all previous Writers Museum exhibits, handsomely, colorfully and creatively mounted. And inclusive as you might consider a display that includes both Malcolm X and Flannery O’Connor.

There is a space devoted to “Spirituality and Song,” fashioned as a diner booth and table jukebox which allows you to select and listen to such faith-inspired songs as Chance the Rapper’s “Blessings” and Patti Smith’s “Gloria.”

A display called “Spirituality & Song” is included in the exhibit “American Prophets” at the American Writers Museum on Nov. 20, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Yes, some of the writers are well known but you will also meet such folks as Brad Wagnon and Samira Ahmed, both lesser known but worth knowing.

Likely to be popular is “Holiness and Humor,” offering religion-themed film clips and bits of stand-up performances, including those from Mindy Kaling, Patton Oswalt, Hari Kondabolu and Joan Rivers.

You will taste such religions and belief systems as Agnosticism and Scientology, Indigenous spiritualities, Judaism, Scientology and Taoism, and more.

Books in the exhibit “American Prophets” are displayed at the American Writers Museum on Nov. 20, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

What will surely be one of the most popular and surprising portions is devoted to actor/writer/film director and native Chicagoan Harold Ramis, most famous for directing “Groundhog Day” and not famous at all for being a practicing Buddhist.

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“Harold was Jewish, of course, so I do think that most people will be surprised by how much Buddhism was part of Harold’s life,” says former Sun-Times religion columnist Cathleen Falsani.

She was first contacted by Cranston two years ago and was hired as one of the exhibition’s consultants. She was happy to offer her expertise. She helped supply a replica of what is called “The 5-Minute Buddhist,” on a tri-folded piece of paper that, as Cranston told me, “Harold created to represent a Chinese restaurant menu and he would give it to friends.”

It contains this, from Thích Nhất Hạnh, a 20th century Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, “The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment, feeling truly alive.”

Ramis was one of the people interviewed in Falsani’s 2006 book, “The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People.” Ramis also told her something else: “He said what was perhaps his favorite plaudit in his storied career was from a Buddhist magazine that named ‘Groundhog Day’ the ‘best Buddhist film of the year.’”

You will leave “American Prophets” having experienced more than a few surprises. I grabbed, as anyone can, one of those Harold Ramis “menus,” which tells me “Man is supreme and responsible for his own thoughts, ideas, beliefs and actions.”

It’s impossible to speculate what you might feel after you leave the museum. For a while, as we battle the waves of Christmas commercialism, we might remember, those of us who believe, to celebrate the birth of Christ. Just a few blocks away, some fellow named Santa Claus was greeting kids at Macy’s so I wandered over to see what that was all about.

rkogan@chicagotribune.com

“American Prophets: Writers, Religion and Culture” runs through November 2026 at American Writers Museum, 180 N. Michigan Avenue, 2nd Floor; americanwritersmuseum.org

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/religion-exhibit-writers-museum/ 

A Chicago law firm is decrying a “plague” of privacy violations across the region after patients filed suit against a Batavia chiropractor, alleging he secretly videotaped them during treatment while they were partially or fully undressed.

Attorneys with the Romanucci & Blandin firm at a news conference Tuesday said they have filed two separate civil lawsuits in recent weeks against businesses for allegedly using their operations to secretly record people. The firm is also investigating reports of similar cases at two other Chicago-area businesses.

The latest complaint, involving two adults and two children, was filed against west suburban chiropractor David Hanson and his business, Hanson Family Chiropractic.

Romanucci & Blandin filed the suit Monday in Kane County Circuit Court on behalf of the patients, which include two women and two children from the same family spanning three generations, the family’s attorneys said.

“Our family is in complete disbelief that someone we turned to for help and healing appears to have violated us in this way,” one of the complainants, identified as Jane Doe 1, said in a statement. “And for so many members of our own family to be exploited raises serious questions about how many others may have also been harmed.”

The Kane County state’s attorney’s office filed numerous criminal charges against Hanson earlier this month after a joint investigation between its child exploitation unit and Batavia police determined he had secretly recorded more than 180 patients while they were undressed. The videos date back to 2017, with victims including both children and adults, prosecutors said. Victims were mostly female, the charges state. Hanson remains jailed while his case is pending trial.

Hanson’s attorney did not immediately answer the Tribune’s requests for comment.

The complaint filed against Hanson this week lays out 32 counts of alleged wrongdoing — eight counts alleged for each plaintiff — ranging from invasion of privacy and negligence by Hanson and his practice to intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit seeks at least $50,000 in damages for each plaintiff.

“When a person seeks medical treatment, there is an assumption of trust,” attorney Sarah Raisch, of Romanucci & Blandin, told reporters Tuesday. “That the provider is there to help them and improve their quality of life. Nothing seems further from the truth at Hanson Family Chiropractic.”

Jane Doe 1 and her two children, a boy and girl identified as Child Doe 1 and Child Doe 2, started receiving treatment from Hanson in 2018, according to their complaint. The fourth plaintiff, a woman identified as Jane Doe 2, started receiving treatment in 2020.

Treatments the plaintiffs received included near-infrared light therapy and red light therapy, noninvasive care that involves a patient either changing into a medical gown or taking their clothes off entirely, the complaint states.

The complaint alleges that sometime during or before 2017, hidden video recording devices were placed in vents and fans throughout the offices of Hanson Family Chiropractic, including in the room used for red light and near-infrared therapy. With the cameras, Hanson allegedly made recordings without patients’ knowledge during treatment sessions, during which he’d instruct patients to “bend and stretch,” the complaint states.

“There was a huge violation of privacy and trust, and our clients have suffered immensely,” attorney Daisy Ayllón, also of Romanucci & Blandin, said Tuesday. Attorneys added they expect more lawsuits to be filed against Hanson and his practice, noting this is “just the first wave.”

The suits are only the latest accusation of secret recordings at area businesses. The complaint against Hanson comes after 11 former female employees of an Addison ice cream store filed a suit against its owner last month over allegations that he secretly recorded them in the store’s bathroom.

In the wake of the string of alleged violations, attorneys called for systemic change.

“We’re likening this to a plague,” attorney Antonio Romanucci said. “It’s a plague that is afflicting our communities. It’s a plague that can’t be fixed or solved with a vaccine. … So we have to figure out a solution.”

Beyond charges and complaints, that solution, Romanucci maintained, will require “civil justice” by strengthening state law.

“We need legislative action to create systemic accountability and change,” he said.

State Rep. Curtis Tarver II, who represents the 25th District, announced Tuesday that he will be introducing the Protect Children from Hidden Cameras bill next month.

The legislation, which Tarver said he plans to submit in January, would prohibit hidden cameras from places people expect to have privacy, including bathrooms, locker rooms and medical treatment rooms. It also would require safety inspections to include screening for hidden cameras and require on-site disclosure anywhere a business records customers or employees, Tarver said.

“I’m disgusted by the allegations of what happened,” he said. “I’m appalled.”

tkenny@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/chicago-lawsuit-batavia-chiropractor-video/ 

Being an English major in college was going to come in handy someday. Eventually. 

Three weeks ago, in issuing a sweeping injunction on the use of force by immigration agents in Operation Midway Blitz, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis did something you rarely hear in even the most vaunted courtrooms in this country: She read a poem. In its entirety. 

Carl Sandburg’s 1914 poem “Chicago” is a powerful, sweeping description of the city at the turn of the 20th century. Chicago’s oft-cited nickname, the “City of the Big Shoulders,” comes from it. 

But it’s more than that. 

Some 110 years later, Sandburg’s words are illustrative of the moxie this place has always had but only recently visibly reclaimed. 

“Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning,” Sandburg wrote. “Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger …/ Bareheaded,/ Shoveling,/ Wrecking,/ Planning,/ Building, breaking, rebuilding.”

An original copy of the Poetry magazine from 1914 featuring the poem “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg, at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago in 2014. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)

Building. Breaking. Rebuilding. It’s not lost on me that Ellis articulated the legacy of the city in the same halls that only a year before saw her colleagues weigh the fates of some of the city’s power players, the old order. It’s a fitting nod to the sentiment that despite all of our recent trouble, we remain proud to be the scrappy, inimitable city that we are. 

This renewed energy across Chicago’s gridded streets emerged as coordinated defiance of federal immigration agents who arrived in September. That energy has continued all fall — with the Bears and Cubs seemingly propelled, to some degree, by this sense of fight.

As I ran the Chicago Marathon, I noticed how many Mexican and Ecuadorian flags lined the route and how supporters in Pilsen and Chinatown were undeterred from turning out to cheer on loved ones — despite the increase in federal immigration enforcement efforts in the city.

Consider also the ingenuity and generosity shown by local food pantries, getting groceries to those who are homebound out of fear. Every day, Franciscan Sisters Stephanie Baliga and Kate O’Leary tell me, presents a logistical challenge at Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in West Humboldt Park — thanks to the double whammy of federal agents’ presence and food assistance program funding cuts and delays. And yet, every day, they remain determined to serve, handing out more than 400 allotments of groceries each week.

As I walked back from a recent lunch, my friend’s 4-year-old quietly but proudly showed me she knew how to blow a whistle — a nod to the Lincoln Park mom brigade, which texts warnings if federal agents are seen near local schools.

The National Museum of Mexican Art had a line around the block on Nov. 1 on Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead,” which my 7-year-old and I discovered when we were looking to fill a Saturday afternoon. And Pilsen’s Panaderia Nuevo Leon could barely fit its customers inside that same afternoon when we made a stop for a treat. 

Well versed in the city’s Irish Catholic culture, I have loved taking part in Chicago’s proud expression of its Irishness — attending Old St. Pat’s annual Chicago Celtic Mass and events held by the Irish Fellowship Club and Celtic Legal Society and gossiping about who’s been selected as annual parade grand marshal and queen of St. Patrick’s Court. 

Part of that delight, I’ve come to realize, comes from a clear feeling of belonging, a knowledge that you have friends and neighbors who have your back. 

But we’d be remiss to think we are just an Irish town anymore. And for those who have a problem with that, we sneer right back, just as Sandburg noted.  

The challenges Chicagoans have endured these last weeks I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But that time has made clear that as a city, we know how to embrace the notion that we fight for our own. Together.

Kerry Lester Kasper is a Chicago-based writer.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/opinion-chicago-operation-midway-blitz-carl-sandburg-poem/ 

Editor’s note: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, our readers wrote to us to share what they’re thankful for. Here is another selection of those letters. To view more letters, click here. We will publish the remainder on Thursday.

Glory of the dawn

I’m thankful for getting to see a golden-morning sunrise after enduring a period of gloomy gray days. I’m thankful that I get to enjoy my trusting tabby sleeping on my legs while I relax on the couch after a long workday. I’m thankful for the relationship I have with my teenage son and that he still enjoys spending time with me.

I’m thankful for my playful husband and the way we laugh both at each other and ourselves. I’m thankful that I got to see many members of my family this year and that even though we might not agree on certain matters, we can talk about it respectfully. I’m thankful for my friends near and far and the memories we’ve made.

I’m thankful for the people I get to work alongside and how supportive we are of each other even during times of uncertainty. I’m thankful for my local baristas and how they help get my day off to a positive start.

As I write this and think about it, the theme that rises to the top is I’m thankful for my relationships. They give my life meaning, purpose, joy and wisdom. That’s a whole lot to be thankful for!

— Tanya Lopez, Glen Ellyn

Gratitude in America

I am grateful for the innate innocence of children who make me smile with their questions about what it feels like to be at least 100 years old (although I am only 74!), while they softly rub my crinkly hand to bring us closer together.

I am grateful for the sound of the birds’ fluttering wings and the wetness of fall leaves as I briskly walk my two beloved pups, sucking in the crisp air as deeply as I can.

I am grateful for the love of all my kids, who put family first on Sunday nights as we share a laughter-filled dinner, a four-generation tradition.

And I am thankful to live in America, because even with all its messiness and chaos, it remains a place where, when we practice loving kindness toward all humans, we can live in relative peace and freedom, as our Founding Fathers envisioned for millions of people not even born when they put their feather pens to paper 238 years ago.

— Carole Klein-Alexander, Riverwoods

Be kind and careful

As we near the end of the first year of this period of fear, I am comforted by acts of kindness done for me by a complete stranger, as undeserving as I was.

Nearly three years ago, I hit a woman as I turned left and she walked into an intersection. I did not see her until she went over the hood of my car. My guess is the sun was in my eyes, but I should have stopped or at least inched along until I was sure no one was there. Right away, the injured woman was kind to me, letting me know she knew it wasn’t on purpose.

She was again kind to me when we met in court two months later, and I apologized. It was the first day the woman walked without a cane or walker. Even though she was crying, the woman and her husband told me that they knew this accident was unintentional.

And when the case settled, the injured woman sent me a beautiful note: “I want to thank you for staying with me after the accident. I know it was a split-second mistake. There are many lessons for us throughout our lives. This came with many lessons of growth, strength, acts of kindness and new tests. I hope you are able to move beyond this and find peace, happiness and joy.”

I sent the woman a card thanking her for her understanding and for the great example she had set for me.

Let’s all make sure we make the needed adjustments, such as slowing down or stopping when the sun or other obstacles keep us from seeing clearly. And let’s be aware that the sun may be in the other person’s eyes.

Kindness and understanding, even to complete strangers, and even when we’re hurting, may help us cope with these terribly stressful times.

— Kevin Coughlin, Evanston

My mother’s example

Recently driving back from northern Wisconsin after a weekend celebrating my mother’s 108th birthday, I had much to reflect upon. My mother was born on the ninth of November in 1917. And she knows it. Talk about being thankful; the list seems unimaginable.

Born before women had the right to vote, she once shared with me how proud she was to have voted for all women on her ballot. I don’t believe she ever missed an opportunity to cast her vote. When she talks of some of her exploits working in D.C., Chicago and Detroit during the war, she was grateful for the kindness and care of the Pullman porters who looked after the petite 4-foot-11 young woman traveling alone. She shared how, when visiting her cousin in New York in 1942, she had a chance to see and hear a “guy with a lousy voice,” Irving Berlin, sing “Oh! How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning” onstage.

My mother started the “Sick Loan Cupboard” in her northern Wisconsin hometown to gather and redistribute no-longer-needed durable medical equipment — at no charge to the recipients.

However, the thing I, as her only child, am most thankful for is the role model she is for me and for all those fortunate to cross her path. She can still charm with her smile and deliver a “cut to the chase” quip. She has achieved what many have strived for, as she keeps her head where her feet are. She doesn’t regret the past nor does she fear the future.

She and I are thankful for the blessing that is today.

— Barry Tusin, Wheaton

Living fully human

To give thanks can occasionally be daunting. A joyful, thankful heart is mine in times of plenty, good health and merry celebration. Yet, how do I rally when the tide has turned? How can I be thankful when a loved one falls ill, an unexpected expense makes an appearance or attendance at a funeral is all-important?

These are the times that prod me to dig deep, to look beyond the circumstance. Is there a lesson to be learned? Have I truly appreciated the gift of family and friends? Am I being called to pause, breathe and ponder in silence? The choice is mine. I can give thanks or bemoan the experience.

To be thankful at all times is a true expression of living fully human.

— Mary Jo Ingolia, Schaumburg

To all the fighters

I am thankful that cancer is no longer a mandatory death sentence. One of my younger brothers, Rick, is battling cancer for the second time in his life. Things look good, and if all goes well, he’ll be done with treatment by the end of 2025. I truly don’t know what our families would do without him! In addition, my friends Jennifer, Diane and Dan are living their lives to their fullest as they treat their incurable cancers into remission or stabilization.

Finally, in the most cruel type of cancer (childhood cancer), I want to give a huge shout-out all the way to Boston to “Johnny Strong” and the entire Morris family. What an inspirational boy and family!

This holiday season, may all who are financially able, give to others in need and support cancer research as much as possible. We all know and love many with this horrible disease in all its forms. Love, peace and health to all the fighters out there!

— Terri Lipsitz, Highland Park

My faith and family

My Top 10 Thankful List:

I am thankful for my faith in God and Mother Mary, for providing the rest of my list and always listening to my prayers.
I am forever thankful for my husband of almost 40 years and his love for me and our family.
I am thankful for being a “boy” mom and grammy.
I am thankful for my great daughters-in-law who love our sons as much as we do!
I am thankful for my grandsons P&P and their unconditional love.
I am thankful my parents, even though they are gone; their many life lessons live on.
I am thankful for my five older siblings to learn and grow from.
I am thankful for my dear friends and their unwavering support in good times and bad.
I am thankful for the (too many to count) students who touched my life while I was teaching and gave me a reason to smile each day! I am also thankful for the students I continue to tutor and the joy they bring in retirement.
I am thankful for just celebrating another birthday, as every day really is a gift.

— Marilyn Taaffe-Paez, Frankfort

My son’s well-being

I am thankful this year our only son is thriving in his first year of college. It was a leap of faith, dropping him off 1,750 miles away at a small college in the northwest part of the country.

By all accounts, he is doing well. His midterm grades were good, and he’s making friends and is doing well on a Division 1 sports team. We FaceTime with him once a week, and he seems happy. We ask him to tell us not just the good stuff but also anything bad. So far, nothing bad. While we take that with a grain of salt, it does seem like he is doing well, and that makes me feel good.

Not only good about him, but I feel maybe some of the parenting we did paid off.

— Andy Olcott, Glenview

What my parents taught

I’m 85 years old, past the racetrack’s last turn and charging for the finish line. I’m no different from most people in that position who reflect on their lives’ joys and sorrows, their accomplishments and failures, their beloveds and their “I can take them or leave thems.”

As I’ve done so, it became clear that I have a great many things to be grateful for — a loving wife, daughter, and family and two wonderful, exciting careers that brought satisfaction and security. The list could go on.

But when it comes down to it, what I’m most grateful for is having the great fortune to have Martin and Theresa Foys as my parents. The children of immigrants, coming of age in the Great Depression, they didn’t have three full years of high school between them, yet working several jobs, they managed to raise four children, seeing to it that we were well educated (in my instance, well beyond my intelligence) and equipped with values and manners that would serve us well.

When it comes down to it, after considerable introspection, I’ve concluded that everything important that I learned about life was taught by Mom and Dad.

— Bob Foys, Chicago

A habitat to many

This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful that more monarch butterflies and rusty patched bumble bees visited my yard than ever. Over the years, I’ve planted milkweed, blazing star and other pollinator-friendly plants. Goldfinches sit on the echinacea seed pods, munching away at the seeds.

Now, my yard is a changed habitat and a small contribution to the natural world. I’m grateful.

— Linda Morton, Harvard

To the quietly helpful

In our current world of noise, noise, noise, this Thanksgiving season I am most thankful for all the folks who quietly go through their days helping others around them.

All the people who choose to help others. And, at the same time, who don’t block a sidewalk and do damage to public and private property. Who don’t need to have a social media moment to prove to the world what they are doing to lend a voice or a hand to another human being. Who don’t step on others’ right to go about their day.

I am so thankful for the people in our world who quietly work behind the scenes, doing the in-the-trenches work that others do not see or know is being done. All the folks who help out quietly, reaching out to those less fortunate, who do it strictly out of kindness and not for any attention.

To all those who help out quietly, we thank you, and we join you in your acts of kindness.

— Carol Hausmann, Tinley Park

The people in my life

I’m most thankful for my family, friends and good neighbors, that I can take care of myself and that recently I tamed my chocolate habit.

— Alice Marcus Solovy, Highland Park

Music and memories

In 2006, I was invited to a one-time event to sing Johnny Cash with a cast of locals. The one-time event has turned into close to 20 years of making music and memories locally, across the U.S. and several times in Ireland, as the Ken Dix Band, KDB for short.

I feel like Joe, Ken, Pat, Tim, Peter, Mike, John and Lorelei are more than friends. They are family. The lesson? When strange opportunities present themselves, say yes, as you never know where the decision will take you.

Thanks, KDB! Rock on!

— Todd Nuelle, Mount Prospect

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/letters-112625-thankful-kindness/ 

Thanksgiving is here, and I can’t cook.

I can broil a fish filet and steam a veggie, but that’s about it. If you want anything else edible, don’t let me anywhere near a stove. Especially the one that has occupied my kitchen for 35 years. It’s old. Ancient. Managing that relic for a large dinner requires a finesse I will never — and don’t care to — possess. 

I have heard the tales and gaped at the lavish photos of Thanksgiving dinner table scenes. I know of the cooking champions who start preparing the cakes, pies and sides weeks out, who delight in making all manner of dishes that I have never heard of. 

I have seen the images of exhausted hosts (always women) toiling over a hot stove to lay out lavish spreads. I have marveled at their talents and drive.

That won’t be me, as I can’t cook.   

As a person who loves to host parties, that would not be something to be thankful for, especially on this grand holiday of feasting. Yet I am thankful this season, especially because, for more than two decades, I have been blessed with family and friends who can cook. So, every Thanksgiving my husband and I open our doors, and the goodies flow in. 

We are saved by the great Thanksgiving Day Potluck Extravaganza Extraordinaire.

If you go by a survey by the Pew Research Center, the holiday is a big deal. Conducted in the run-up to the 2024 Thanksgiving celebration, it queried 9,609 adults across America about their plans. The survey found that 91% said they celebrate the holiday, across all demographic groups. Only 7% expected to have Thanksgiving dinner with more than 20 other people. About a quarter of those surveyed said they planned to dine with more than 10 others that year.

“Smaller get-togethers are more common: 26% of Americans plan to have dinner with six to 10 other people, 15% with three to five other people, and 4% with one to two other people,” according to the survey.  

Six people? At my abode, we are often bursting at the seams, packing in close to 30 celebrants into our three-bedroom apartment for Thanksgiving. 

This year, more of the same. It will be an assemblage of siblings, nieces, nephews, in-laws and friends of every type and stripe. We have known some for more than 40 years and one person I met just last week. 

The crowd is always diverse, United Nations style. We will welcome immigrants from India and Japan. There will be an expat couple visiting from Thailand. Others trek to our North Side apartment from Indiana, the south suburbs and beyond. 

We do it up right. Paper plates are verboten. It’s the only time I break out the sets of china and crystal, including my grandmother’s treasured turkey plates. 

They will be loaded with traditional dishes — turkey and gravy, ham, cranberry sauce, with a touch of eggnog. 

That’s just for starters. Our lovely guests have brought sushi, collard greens, hummus and baba ghanoush, and Thai satay. 

Before my mother left us in 2023, her specialty of creamily spiced macaroni and cheese was the crown jewel of our Thanksgiving fetes. Now our guests compete to meet her high standards.

Our feasts are a cultural journey that sparks conversation about the differences that bring us together. One debate I have been pushing over the years is the potato question: mashed versus sweet? In the African American Thanksgivings of my youth, sweet potatoes or candied yams were mandatory. Among my white friends, it was mashed potatoes doused in gravy. 

Pumpkin pie? Not. Sweet potato pie was the thing in our house. For the turkey, we called it dressing, not stuffing. Crumbly cornbread, not dinner rolls.

We have had it all. 

Even Mom’s favorite, chitterlings, the piggy innards that are a prized delicacy among many African Americans, have made appearances. Oink.

So, as the big day approached, I was thankful for potluck. Then, last week, a wrench was thrown. I have nearly 30 guests coming with food, but no way to heat up the action. 

Remember that relic in my kitchen? That ancient stove was on the verge of collapse and down to one working jet. So, after eons of my nagging, the hubby ran out and picked up a new stove. 

It’s a marvel in my eyes. Gleaming and fresh, with five powerful jets. 

A new stove for the lady who can’t cook. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Wednesday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/column-thanksgiving-cooking-potluck-washington/ 

Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Nov. 26, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

The Chicago Bears have played 38 times on Thanksgiving. Here’s how they’ve fared in each game since 1920.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

High temperature: 67 degrees (1990)
Low temperature: 2 degrees (1898)
Precipitation: 1.63 inches (1988)
Snowfall: 7.5 inches (1975)

On Nov. 22, 1925, less than 24 hours after his last game with the Fighting Illini, Harold “Red” Grange, second from right, signed a contract to play pro football with the Chicago Bears at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago. Surrounding Grange as he signed were Bears managers Edward C. Sternaman, from left, and George C. Halas. Grange’s agent Charles C. Pyle, is on the right. (Chicago Herald and Examiner photo)

1925: Just days after he abruptly left the University of Illinois to don the navy and orange of the Chicago Bears, three-time All-American Harold Edward “Red” Grange played in his first NFL game.

More than 36,000 fans packed Wrigley Field to see Grange, who signed with the Bears less than 24 hours after his last college game. It was then the largest crowd in professional football history. They came away disappointed as the Bears and Chicago Cardinals — the oldest rivalry in the NFL — tied 0-0.

Paddy Driscoll, later Grange’s teammate on the Bears, punted the ball away from Grange all game, drawing a chorus of boos, and Grange rushed for only 36 yards.

The Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals played to a 0-0 tie before more than 36,000 fans on Thanksgiving 1925, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune)

“I decided if one of us was going to look bad, it wasn’t going to be me,” Driscoll told the Tribune’s David Condon 40 years later. “Punting to Grange is like grooving a pitch to Babe Ruth.”

After the game, Driscoll went to see his future wife, Mary, in the stands. He lamented fans were wrong to boo Grange for his uninspiring debut. “Don’t feel sorry for Grange,” Mary said. “It’s you they’re booing.”

The teams faced each other on Thanksgiving in 1926 — with the game resulting in another scoreless tie.

Though Red Grange didn’t score a touchdown during his Chicago Bears debut on Nov. 26, 1925, at Wrigley Field, he did make roughly $12,000 (or more than $216,000 in today’s dollars) for his efforts. (Chicago Tribune)

Grange sustained a knee injury in 1927 that greatly affected his speed. He sat out the next season and joined the vaudeville circuit but returned to George Halas’ team in 1929. He turned down an offer from Halas to become the team’s head coach after his last game in January 1935.

Grange owned a night club on Sheridan Road, became a sales manager of a bottling company, sold insurance and was a radio and TV sportscaster before he retired to Florida. Both he and Halas were inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963. Grange died in 1991 at age 87.

A rare Red Grange Chicago Bears jersey from the 1930s sells for $548,100 at auction

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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/chicago-history-november-26/ 

These Are The Largest Bodies Of Water In Our Solar System

Tyler Durden
Wed, 11/26/2025 – 05:45

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/these-are-largest-bodies-water-our-solar-system