My Edgewater Story by Nestor Gomez

Nestor Gomez

My name is Nestor Gomez. I was born and raised in the Central American country of Guatemala. In the mid ‘80s, my family emigrated—undocumented — to the United States. At first, we settled in a tiny studio apartment in Uptown that was too small for my mom, my sister, me and my two brothers.

Being confined in such a small space increased our yearning for the native land. Thankfully, our new home was located a few minutes’ walk from the lake. My siblings and I quickly learned our way to and from the lake, and often managed to find new sights that we eagerly showed our mom during our weekend family walks along the lakeshore.

Sadly, the manager of our studio apartment was not happy with having so many people living there. A few months later, my mother was forced to find a bigger apartment, and we moved to Ukrainian Village, far from the shore of Lake Michigan.

During the years that followed, like many other Chicagoans, I visited the lake only a few days during the summer. Even after I moved out of my mother’s place and started a family of my own, I still lived close to my mother. Years passed, my kids went to college, my marriages ended in divorce, I became an American citizen, and I found myself starting a new relationship. By now I was living in Avondale and my girlfriend lived in Logan Square. 

We decided to move in together, but neither of our apartments was ideal. Mine was too small and hers was getting more expensive due to gentrification. Therefore, we decided to buy a place of our own. But after a 6-month long search for an ideal place to live, we couldn’t find an affordable place that we both liked. We were getting frustrated and angry at one another.

One day when we were about to reach our breaking point, my girlfriend asked what my idea of an ideal neighborhood was. I hadn’t thought about that. Until then we both had wanted to live close to our mothers.

I found myself responding that I would love to live near the lake just as I had lived with my family when we first came to this country. Turns out that my girlfriend was born in Rogers Park and had lived in Edgewater a couple of years prior. We expanded our search for our home to the North Side, and a few days later we found a gorgeous place in Edgewater.

It was both affordable and only a few blocks from the lake. Plus, the building was pet-friendly, a must for our family--which includes two lovable rescued dogs. We loved the neighborhood so much that we held our wedding ceremony at the Berwyn-Sheridan Gardens where we had a plot, and our wedding reception took place near the lake by Foster beach. 

We currently live in Rogers Park, but Edgewater is still near our home and our hearts. 

Copyright © 2024, Nestor Gomez