Categories: Dobel Street, Metro Detroit
A murky future
I can't help but feel somewhat uneasy and nostalgic going into the weekend.
At the very least, my life is about to drastically change. Next week is my last at The Detroit News, and I'm struggling with it -- leaving a paper I delivered as a boy to the folks on Pinehurst and Huntington in Roseville.
I'm also struggling with what to do about Fletcher Field, the F3 group who supports the park and the kids who play there, and this blog.
Frankly, the neighborhood around the park continues to suffer a long, painful death, and so many kids have moved out of the area since we started this back in the summer of 2007. Some Sundays over the past summer, the place felt like a ghost town.
Sadly, the ice-cream man who services the area could make it down all the streets surrounding the park in a matter of minutes -- the music blasting through the truck's loudspeaker eerily echoing through the many vacant houses and lots. The sound reminded me of movie scenes when somebody's lost in the wilderness and crying out for help: "Hello! Is there anybody there!"
Not really. Not anymore.
I remember when it took at least a half hour for the ice-cream truck to make it from the far end of Van Dyke and Dobel to our house at 8271. The anticipation of the malt cup to come was absolutely excruciating for any 10-year-old boy.
Oh, well. It is what is now, and we pray that it won't be that way in the future -- a future that feels quite murky this morning.
(Please don't forget about Treats 'n Trunks at Fletcher Field on Sunday at 2 p.m. A big crowd would do much to brighten the outlook. CLICK HERE for details.)
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As stated previously to you in private, good luck to you in your new endeavor. You should celebrate this new opportunity in your life.
As for the future of any efforts to better the lives of those living in our old neighborhood, you should take great satisfaction in what has been accomplished regardless of what work may remain. Supposedly a simple litmus test for inclusion into heaven is: did you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc., to which you can reply in the affirmative.
I know of no one who felt that you have failed the old neighborhood in any way, shape, or form. Perhaps it is because I am separated geographically and metaphorically from Detroit, but I never “got” your passion for this mission. I don’t know of many people in mid-Michigan who give Detroit’s plight a passing thought, unless perhaps it is where their roots lay. In these parts, I think a broad summarization would be that Detroit got itself into its current state and that it will have to get out on its own as well.
As far as the blog is concerned, while some may contend that it is everyone’s or no one’s, I believe that it is yours. Its fate is for you to decide. Not wanting this to sound like a eulogy, but the blog has given me so much. Memories buried deep were allowed to surface. People who meant the world to me were rediscovered. For me, I can’t overemphasize the joy it gave me. It isn’t just nostalgia – it is so much more.
You may have allowed me to reconnect with many who were an important part of my life in Detroit – those who shared a similar upbringing and/or experiences – but now it is up to me to keep those friendships alive.
D.P.
p.s.: You’re still not the Pope.
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10/23/09 @ 11:52 Good luck to you in whatever you do.
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10/25/09 @ 11:01 Permalink
10/25/09 @ 11:06 Permalink
10/27/09 @ 09:28 You must register and log in to add a comment.
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