My two colleagues (one remote from Texas and one from our London office) arrived in Chicago on Saturday night, and I spent the whole Sunday showing them Chicago my way. We started with the Architectural Cruise, and then I showed Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center, The Art Institute, Chagall’s mosaic, and the first skyscrapers. We made it around the Loop on the Pink Line and went back to see the Chicago Public Library and the Fine Arts Building.
I left behind several old skyscrapers, Picasso, and the Riverwalk, but it’s only that much you can fit in one day. I mean, I could feet more, but I’m afraid the guests reached their Chicago capacity limit:)
Boris arrived last night, and he only told me a day earlier that he had been sick for that whole week. Now he has no voice at all, so I it looks like I will have to find another room host!
I learned about the passing of Father Behrens two days ago, and today, the official email notification arrived in my inbox.
April 20, 2024
Dear Henrietta,
It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Rev. Tom Behrens, the Founding President & Former CEO of The Night Ministry. Tom’s vision, dedication, and unwavering commitment to serving our community’s most vulnerable members left an indelible mark on our organization and the city of Chicago.As we mourn the loss of Tom and keep his family and loved ones in our thoughts, we also celebrate his remarkable legacy. Tom’s passion for helping others, particularly our unhoused and marginalized neighbors, inspired all who knew him. As the organization’s first employee, he laid the foundation of compassionate service that still anchors The Night Ministry today. And as our Founding President & Former CEO, Tom provided visionary leadership for decades that deepened and widened our impact in Chicago.In 1976, a coalition of diverse congregations hired Tom to perform outreach to individuals on the streets of Chicago at night in response to loneliness, poverty, and homelessness in the community. As Tom told the Chicago Sun-Times the following year, it was his job “to be present to them, to be available, to listen.”As Tom pioneered street outreach in Chicago by holding office hours from the trunk of his car and visiting bars and all-night diners, the encounters he had raised his awareness of gaps in the availability of services to Chicago’s unhoused population, specifically in the areas of shelter for youth and health care. And as his awareness grew, he took action.In the late 1980s, Tom played a key role in successfully advocating for the passage of new state legislation allowing nonprofits to operate group shelters for unhoused youth, which had been prohibited in Illinois. As a result, the landscape of youth services in the state changed dramatically as opportunities became available for unhoused, runaway, and at-risk youth to access safe shelter. The Night Ministry launched its first youth shelter, with 16 beds, a few years after the legislation was enacted. Today, across several Youth Programs, we provide shelter, supportive services, and critical resources to hundreds of young people and their children each year.Tom also oversaw the launch of The Night Ministry’s Outreach & Health Ministry Program in the early 1990s, when the organization outfitted a recreational vehicle to offer mobile healthcare services to individuals who struggled to access more traditional means of care, such as clinics or physicians’ offices. Initially focused on Chicago’s North Side, today our Health Outreach Program brings free medical care, case management, and resources like food and clothing to neighborhoods across the city and even to public transit, serving thousands of people each year.Tom’s tireless efforts transformed countless lives and set the standard for compassion and advocacy in The Night Ministry’s work. His spirit will continue to guide us as we carry forward his mission of providing human connection, housing support, and health care to those who are unhoused or experiencing poverty.
In gratitude,
Carol J. Sharp, MPA President & CEOMichael V. Borromeo Chair, Board of Directors
I was extremely privileged to know Father Behrens in person. Moreover, when many years ago, my friend from Russia, who worked for a similar organization in Sain-Petersburg, “The Night Bus,” asked for guidance and emotional support; Father Behrence wrote a long letter to her. I just found it!
At some point, I bought tons of books on Audible, thinking that I could still return them if I didn’t like them or if I decided not to read them. However, they changed their return policies (and it was probably a good call!), so I ended up with a lot of never-opened books. Since they were already on my phone, I decided to give them a try, and many of them turned out to be not bad at all!
Code Name Blue Wren. I picked this book because it was in the Women’s Month recommended reading from CPL (from last year!). The description (a Cuban female spy) was intriguing, but when I started to listen, it felt boring, and I abandoned it. I resumed reading several months later, and finally, I was into this book. The most interesting was trying to understand the psychology of a person who turned against the country that gave them so much…
The 19th Wife. I learned something about different aspects of polygamy that I hadn’t thought about before and about what is especially damaging to it. I am still unsure whether I should have spent that much time on it, though.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold. That was the book we read for our Book Club, and I really enjoyed it, although I can’t quite put my finger on why. During our discussion at the Book Club meeting, I suggested that it might be because I often reflect on whether I would have wanted something in my life to be different. However, I always come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t change anything in my past because everything I’ve done in the past has made me the person I am today.
Before Your Memory Fades. Book #3 (I believe) from the same series. During our book club discussion, somebody mentioned that “Before coffee gets cold” has a sequel, but “it is way worse.” I didn’t believe them and bought the book. It turned out that they were right!
Most Delicious Poison. Spices, medicine, poison – they all come from the same plants, there difference is in the quantity.
The Quiet Girl. One more book from last year’s Women’s History Month recommendations. Don’t know what to make out of it. It was definitely a captivating reading, but I do not think that I would miss something if I would never read it.
I still have several books from the last-year supply, and one new book from our reading club, and one more…
Please, do not roll your eyes on me! I thought for the whole month back in December before I said – maybe, and another two months before I said yes, and I chose the committee where my ideas will be needed and the time commitment won’t be huge.
And honestly, isn’t it the best way I can help my own community to become better?!
OMG, what I’ve just experienced! I am so glad that I had this opportunity! The Siskel Film Center hosted the Art of Benshi world tour; there were only two performances in Chicago (and the program was different on both days). Somehow, I managed not to miss an email when they announced these performances and got tickets for Igor and myself (and both shows were sold out!). I never knew about benshi! You know how, at the dawn of cinematography, there was a pianist (or even a small orchestra) playing during silent movies? Well, in Japan, they not only had an orchestra but also a narrator, who gave a whole dramatic performance following the actions on the screen. That is the art of benshi, and that’s what we have experienced today! I suspect even my Japanese friend will be jealous when she sees today’s program! And since I am afraid it will be removed from the Siskel Center website very soon, I am copy-pasting the program description here.
SANJI GOTO—THE JAPANESE ENOCH ARDEN (NARIKIN) 1918, dirs. Harry Williams, Kisaburo Kurihara Japan, 35 min. Silent / Format: Digital Billed as the “the first ever Japanese production of its kind,” SANJI GOTO holds a fascinating place in international film history. After training as an actor with Thomas Ince, director Kisaburo “Thomas” Kurihara returned to Japan to make films to export to the US beginning with this slapstick comedy. Iwajiro Nakajima, “the Japanese Charlie Chaplin,” stars as a guileless janitor who journeys to the States on the chance of inheriting a fortune. Sadly, the film survives only as a fragment. Exhibition materials courtesy of the National Film Archive of Japan. Performed by Hideyuki Yamashiro.
JIRAIYA THE HERO (GÔKETSU JIRAIYA) 1921, dir. Shozo Makino Japan, 21 min. Silent, intertitles in Japanese with English subtitles / Format: Digital The first star of the Japanese screen, Matsunosuke Onoe plays the title character, a shape-shifting ninja who battles his enemies with an arsenal of magic, which includes transforming himself into a giant toad. Based on a famous folktale, JIRAIYA THE HERO was one of Japan’s earliest “trick films” and survives today as a fragment featuring a series of loosely connected fight scenes. Exhibition materials courtesy of the National Film Archive of Japan. Performed by Ichiro Kataoka, Kumiko Omori, and Hideyuki Yamashiro.
OUR PET 1924, dir. Herman C. Raymaker USA, 11 min. Silent, intertitles in Japanese with English subtitles / Format: Digital Diana Serra Cary, better known by her screen name Baby Peggy, was only 19 months old when director Fred Fishback cast her in a series of comedy shorts in 1921 alongside Brownie the Wonder Dog. By the following year, she was one of the biggest child stars in the world. In OUR PET, discovered at auction in 2016 by master benshi Ichiro Kataoka, Peggy is awakened from sleep by a series of burglars who quickly find themselves in over their heads, Home Alone–style. Performed by Kumiko Omori.
A PAGE OF MADNESS (KURUTTA IPPEIJI) 1926, dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa Japan, 70 min. Silent, intertitles in Japanese with English subtitles / Format: Digital With a scenario devised by Japanese novelist (and later Nobel Prize winner) Yasunari Kawabata with contributions from other members of the radical literary movement known as Shinkankakuha, director Teinosuke Kinugasa crafted this visionary masterpiece that was thought lost for almost 50 years. Wracked with guilt, believing his wanton cruelty drove his wife insane, a husband becomes a janitor at the asylum where she’s incarcerated so he can care for her. When he comes to fear her illness may prevent their daughter from getting married, he gradually loses his own grip on reality. Replete with fantastical images, super impositions, and rapid montage, the film subverts any sense of narrative coherence even as Kinugasa builds, according to critic Chris Fujiwara, “an atmosphere of astonishing intensity.” Performed by Ichiro Kataoka.
The first free films are amazing, but the last one, “A Page of Madness,” was beyond amazing! I still can’t believe that it was filmed a hundred years ago! It’s of a Tarkovsky level, if not above! I am speechless! And very thankful 🙂
First time after a long period of absence, everything went great; everybody participated in making pizza, I had great conversations, I clicked with several young people in the shelter, and everything was great.
The second time, two weeks later: way less engagement; only two girls came to help me cook. The girl who was the most enthusiastic about my presence and promised to connect to me on LinkedIn and tell me everything about her progress sat in the corner with her back facing me, and when I approached her, she replied: yes, I am coming in a minute, but she kept staring at her phone screen.
Third time: we tried to go to the Art Institute. We talked about it when I cooked dinner, and there was a lot of interest. However, on “day X” nobody wanted to come
Forth time, today: almost no participation. The staff came to help me cook. One girl reluctantly approached but then walked away. I asked her later whether she liked the food -she did and she thanked me.
I talked to the staff. They agreed with my assessment that it’s hard to predict, and only the time can tell and only the time can improve. I will keep coming, and I need to find a way to do it ore frequently.
I am copying this article and thinking that none of my friends will believe that the problem described in it has anything to do with me, but it does!!!
While many things are not related to me at all, almost half of the “symptoms” are mine! I do not sleep in on weekends, and I do not “dread the next day,” but I am definitely trying to catch up with what I missed during the day and regain some control, especially when, like now, I objectively have to do more things than a day can handle. And I do shop on Amazon at very late hours.
I got on my other bike, and went for not a really long one, but for a reasonably long ride. And then, I met with my friend MaryAnn at Theo Ubique Cabaret for dinner and the show. Everything was amazing as always, and we had a great time. I actually didn’t worry about “what awaits me” and felt rested and prepared for all of the challenges of the upcoming week.
Hettie's Reflections 