I worry about Detroit...

I know this seems a bit long and wordy, but it doesn mean a lot to me.

I worry about it like you would a sick loved one. Are they going to pull through this? What's next for them? Is there anything that can be done to save them? Detroit use to be so fabulous. It use to be the 4th biggest city in the country. Motown was the place to be for music. It was a person's dream to be there.

Even though now as an adult I begrudgingly live in Ohio, Detroit will ALWAYS have a spot in my heart. My grandmother immigrated from Spain, my grandfather from Macedonia, and they wound up in Dearborn where they raised my biological father. When I was born we lived in Oakland County which is part of the Detroit metropolitan area. I went to a FABULOUS Jewish school in Bloomfield Hills that exposed me to so much diversity. We then moved down to Monroe County, which is still considered a part of the Detroit Metro area by the census. Detroit was never far away.

Some of my only positive memories of my dad involve going to Detroit Pistons games (whom I still vehemently support), the Detroit Auto Show (which I believe you are required to attend if you're from Detroit), and being able to jaunt across the bridge with him and visit Canada. Without those things, I'd have nothing from him. Sad but very true.

As a budding adult, I lived in my first condo in Detroit, and that is also where I got my feet wet in the world of real estate. I met some wonderful people, and some not so great ones. To make ends meet after I got fired for being sexually harrassed by some balding bozo, I worked at a Detroit Metro porn warehouse.

I adore going to Greektown with my husband. I love making the drive to shop up there. Being surprised with Pistons tickets and going to the Palace is ALWAYS a winner. I've seen almost all of my concerts somewhere in Detroit (and generally with my mom). I mean, can't almost everyone think of a positive Detroit experience?

I truly, truly hope that they can evolve and join the future. I thought Kwame Kilpatrick was going to be the one to do it, but THAT obviously wasn't the case. But I do still hold out hope.

And just in case you're ever asked (and because I love randomness) here are some fun facts:

-Is home to the Motown sound founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1957.
-Installed the first mile of paved concrete road, just north of the Model T plant, on Woodward Avenue.
-Built the nation's first urban freeway, the Davison, in 1942.
-Is home to the oldest state fair in the nation, first held in 1849.
-Is the potato chip capital of the world, based on consumption.
-Is home to the world's only floating post office. The J.W. Westcott II, can be found on the Detroit River.
-Is north of Canada.
-Is second in the nation in fishing rod sales.
-Shares the world's first auto traffic tunnel between two nations *the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel.
-Is home to the second tallest hotel in North America, the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center, at 73 stories.
-Created the nation's first soda, Vernors. It was created in Detroit by pharmacist James Vernor in 1862.
-Has the most registered bowlers in the United States.
-Was the first city in the nation to assign individual telephone numbers in 1879.