Bridget Houlihan Kennedy is originally from Chicago's South Side. She began going to the parade with her family and grandmother Alice O'Leary Loftus as a young girl. A graduate of John Carroll University, Kennedy received her master's in journalism-public affairs at Columbia College in Chicago. Now a freelance writer and reporter, Kennedy has written for Chicago Magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Pioneer Press. She currently resides in Chicago with her husband and family.