Day 22 of 25 DAYS OF HUGGING:

Christina grew up in Garfield Ridge; for those of you not familiar, Garfield Ridge is a vibrant neighborhood in the southwest corner of Chicago. It’s one of those old-fashioned neighborhoods where people go for walks and stop to talk to friends on the porch. Except in Christina’s world, she was related to half of them.

So you would see this Aunt or that Uncle and next thing you know you were having another bowl of pasta, and Christina was holding court and passing out hugs.

Everyone loved to see Christina, and she loved being with people she was comfortable around. She was a regular at St. Daniel the Prophet, where we were married and both of our children were baptized. We owned our first house on 55th Street in the neighborhood and our second just two blocks from Weber’s Bakery (conveniently!). It was hard for Christina to leave the neighborhood she had lived in for the first 40 years of her life, but she never really left. She just expanded the circle of hugging. Stop by Weber’s Bakery on Archer or any of the little restaurants that dot Archer and Harlem Avenues and you’ll still be able to feel what made Garfield Ridge and St. Daniel the Prophet such an integral part of Christina’s makeup.

Please consider a donation to CCCF: www.celebratingchristina.org/donate

One day, one goal, one hug.