`Dear Detroit,

I have to admit that I hated you when I first met you. I thought you were so cruel and cold, and so unlike the warm friendly Minnesota that I held in such sweet nostalgia. Like a mean step sister you taunted me with potholes, a stolen car, house fires and screaming parents as I learned to navigate your Michigan lefts and nasally A’s . But eventually we learned to love each other. I opened my heart to your children and neighbors. In return you showed me the love of strangers when stuck in a snowstorm and the sweet darkness of blues music on a late night at Bert’s.
I’m sorry for taking so long to love you. I fed into the stigmas and stereotypes and sniffed from the suburban sidelines. For two years I tip-toed around your perimeter and missed out on midnight dances in tire warehouses, concrete nights with neighbors, and morning walks on the river walk.

I am sorry for touring abandoned houses instead of enjoying the renovations and restoration on every block. I am also sorry for choosing to ignore you when you had so much to offer in return. Eventually I took the plunge and moved within your borders, and I am forever grateful that I did.

Thank you for showing me how to turn friends into family and rely on others and not just myself. Thank you for placing me in a city knee deep in mirrors instead of a sea of snow; where I learned to love me for me and embrace every curly natural inch. Thank you for showing me the grit and hustle of your underbelly. Thank you for choosing to entrust me with your children and become an educator for the future dwellers. The tough love that you show to the world is also a fierce love. I’ve learned that once Detroit chooses to love you, there is no greater love to be found. I promise that wherever life leads me next, I will forever be your advocate, your defender, and your family.

All My Best,

Jazmyn