Crazy emotional article by famous Detroit sportswriter Mitch Albom about my city. Ridiculously emotional, actually. It brought tears to my eyes because I know exactly how he felt as he wrote it. Some things were just so clear to me... And maybe you ask why? Maybe you ask, as I get asked all the time, "Why do you stay there? Why don't you leave?"
Maybe because we like it here. Maybe because this is what we know: snow and concrete underfoot, hardhats, soul music, lakes, hockey sticks. Maybe because we don't see just the burned-out houses; we also see the Fox Theater, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Whitney restaurant, the riverfront that looks out to Canada. Maybe because we still have seniors who call the auto giant "Ford's", like a shop that's owned by a real human being. Maybe because some of us subscribe to Pastor Covington's words, "We are somebody because God loves us," no matter how cold the night or hard the mattress.
Maybe because when our kids finish college and take that first job in some sexy faraway city and a year later we see them back home and we ask what happened, they say, "I missed my friends and family." And we nod and say we understand.
If you have the time, read the whole thing. It sheds a lot of light on how we Detroiters see ourselves, despite how the rest of the country continually dogs us and treats us as if we're not worth much of anything. I love it.Thanks, Mitch.
Click here to read 'The Courage of Detroit'.
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