BULLETIN: End Of Blog (For Me)

Hello, everyone. I hope all of you are doing well. I wanted to give an explanation on why I have not been updating at all in the last couple of months and want to also explain my reason for completing my vision for doing this blog, at least at this moment in time. I have lost the battle I was fighting in time management. I have horrible time management skills. I am taking a summer class at school (which, thankfully, ends this Thursday) and have a part-time job on campus, in addition to being involved with the Student Government Association. I also have family, church-related and "religious" (spiritual) obligations I've been attending to. I've been getting swamped with homework and other things, and also have a large number of archives to catch up on.

To be completely honest, I have also lost considerable interest in updating regularly and also being involved in the community. With little efforts being put in by others to improve the neighborhood (at least from my view point from the part of the area I live in), and also with the busy life I am leading, I am starting to feel as if it is no longer a necessity for me to update. I have lost my fire and passion to update and to keep going with this effort. When I started this blog nearly six years ago, I saw a clear vision for it. That vision was to keep the neighborhood informed and to have community build relationships with the police, elected officials and among each other. I saw our community improving significantly and a light at the end of the tunnel to many of the problems we face in Logan Square and in Avondale. Fortunately, to report, that vision has came to pass considerably. There has been certainly much effort made, especially in the 14th and 17th Districts, and with listening for the amount of time I have been listening, so much has changed and for the better. There has been major improvements and honestly, it really seems as if crime has gone down dramatically in those parts of the area. The 25th District is another story. Although I have not seen or heard any activity in my area much at all this summer, there are other parts of 25 that are getting hammered and little to nothing is being done about it by anyone. With that said, and I have said this elsewhere too, I do not have the time or energy to respond and do something about problems that are not particularity in my area anymore. That does sound selfish, but I want to be truthful.

If anyone wants to at all help keep this effort going, or to even contribute ideas, please do let me know. I will still be checking my crime blotter e-mail address (avondalelscrimeblotter@gmail.com). I am going to be deleting the Facebook page due to inactivity, but if and when I do decide to return, I will create a new one along with a Twitter account. But for now, I am ending my reign of doing this blog. The blog will NOT be deleted, as I want to keep it up to give people an idea of how things have happened over the years, and there is possibility that I may return in the near future. To be honest, I have very mixed emotions about making this big decision, but I strongly feel it is time for me to move on at least for now and to further investigate what my life's purpose is. I am not really too sure what I am supposed to be doing and want to discover it. I also am honestly just burned out from many things in life, in need of time to really reevaluate myself, and in need of time to discover life. With that said, I truly also want to have this effort keep going. There are not many words I can describe to say how I would feel if there was another strong leader who could take charge and pick up from where I left off. I want this momentum to be revived and brought back to my original vision of being a neighborhood voice, to unify people and keep each other informed. I don't want the little fire that is left to completely burn out.

I am so grateful and thankful to where this blog has taken us -- me in having so many doors opened in my life and this leading me to a path in life where I otherwise would have not known, and meeting so many great people such as yourselves -- and you guys in talking to the police and elected officials to demand change in the area where we all love and call home. Not many words can describe what this blog has done, and it is not because of just me at all. Many of you have been part of the effort and no amount of words or even gifts could tell the appreciation I have for all of you for sticking by my side for so long. Spiritually speaking, this blog honestly helped me to come into relationship with God by meeting someone very special to my heart a couple of years ago in the CAPS program who I would not have met through this blog and who told me about God's love for me in such a profound way that has changed the very fiber of my being. I also feel honestly as if this blog has been God's Will for me to do in life. I don't know what my next assignment in life is, but with the faith I have, as well with the education and skills I am obtaining, I will discover it. It may even lead me back to where I started, which is here. I truly, truly love and appreciate every single and last one of you. I will be always grateful and thankful for all of you, even the "haters". I owe a special thank you to Craig Gernhardt, the author of the Broken Heart AKA The Morse Hellhole blog in Rogers Park, who helped me to discover my interest in doing this blog. A special thank you also goes out to the CAPS Beat 2523 program, as well as the Avondale Neighborhood Association, who has supported me so much in the last few years. A special thank you goes out to my mother and sister for encouraging me from day one, as well as many of you who have been with me since the beginning.

Please note that no one but me has made this decision. I am not being pressured into doing it under any circumstances. This is a choice I am making for many reasons. Please also note that this is NOT goodbye, but more of a "see you later" decision. While I will not make the promise for certainly that I may return, I definitely have the option and definitely have it in consideration for the future.

Also, if anyone is at all interested, my church will be showing a family move this coming Wednesday, July 23rd at 7:15pm, called "God's NOT Dead". You can get in for FREE. We're located at Mont Clare Banquet Hall, 2957 North Harlem Avenue. Would love to see all of you!

Truly Yours,
Tim "Timmy" Granzow
Author, Avondale/Logan Square Crime Blotter