Defend Cleveland

Cleveland. City of Dreams. Paris on the Cuyahoga. Not the way most people would describe this grey-skied, crime-ridden, population-declining city. But,for this great lakes girl, it is the truth. And let me tell you why.

Growing up on the shores of Lake Ontario, the grey skies are the permanent landscape, the snow makes us hearty and wind chapped and going to the beach means walking along the algae filled lake. We go out in the worst snowstorms and we cherish the sunny, summer, great lakes days like each one may be the last. For me, this is home. This is what makes me who I am.

I am from Rochester, NY. Most people do not know western NY. You leave this part of the country and mention NY and people immediately think Manhattan, Brooklyn, maybe Scarsdale. People do not know that western NY is closer to Cleveland, OH and Erie, PA than it is to New York City. New York City is a universe away. Western NY is great lakes country. It has a culture of its own. The people drink Labatt, they play euchre and they do not buy bread, bottled water or batteries when the forecast calls for 5 feet of snow. Home.

I left home and went to college in the most ivoriest of ivory towers. True to the lyrics of the Dartmouth alma mater, the granite of New Hampshire is in my muscles and my brains. The east coast, ivy league experience is also a part of who I am. I was in the glee club, a sorority, even a secret society. I fit in there. I walk that walk and I know that language well. But, it isn't home.

When I came to Cleveland years ago I was embarrassed. My friends were in New York, DC, Boston. Their halls towers were still ivory and their classmates still had blue blood. I, on the other hand was here in walleye eating, corn hole playing Browns Country. And I resented it.

After 3 years of law school and visiting the city as a student, I bought a home in Cleveland Heights to settle down with the man I love. I no longer attended school in Cleveland, I lived here. I had to take the time to learn my city. I learned about the ethnic restaurants tucked here and there, that life existed across the river on the west side and that awesome shopping, concerns and exhibits come to Cleveland all time time. I sipped white wine at Blossom while watching the world class Cleveland orchestra. I bought designer accessories at Saks Fifth Avenue. I strolled through festivals with belly dancers and avant garde artists and food vendors serving greek delights. I ate at lenten fish fries, I drank golden lager from Great Lakes Brewery. I volunteered with women in need. I people watched at the independent cafes. I attended a film festival. I wandered through the stalls at the Westside Market. I sat in the summer sunshine while cheering on the Tribe. I cheered for the hometown boy as he won the title of The Next Iron Chef and smiled when I shook his hand while chatting with him at his restaurant. I had kegs and eggs for breakfast and stumbled in the streets on St. Patrick's Day. I high-fived strangers and danced in the streets when our Cleveland Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference Finals.

I travelled the roads of the city and truly enjoyed it with my friends, my Cleveland family. I fell in love here. I got engaged here. I got married in the ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Cleveland. I made my baby on one of those great lakes sunny days when the sun hangs low in the sky. I gave birth here. I walked along the shores of the great lakes once again. I did not grow up here, but I grew here. I believed in Cleveland, and it believed in me.

So, as I leave this city that I love and cherish, this Cleveland that I constantly defend, I shed a tear and I pour a sip of Dortmunder on the soil for everything and everyone I know and love in this city. If you get to know it, you will love it too. Defend Cleveland. Believe in Cleveland. If you do, she'll believe in you, and you will see what makes this place a City of Dreams.