When I wrote the post Dirty Old Town, it was a struggle to figure out how to express what I wanted to say, but I was pretty pleased with the end result. Now, two years later, I wanted to add a little something to further clarify my feelings.

To me, the term “Dirty Old Town” is simultaneously one of endearment and contempt, of nostalgia and nausea. Looking at the city for one moment, you see a filthy, broken-down place that seems beyond repair and isn’t even worth the attempt. But at other times, you see a place with charm and life. It isn’t broken-down but broken-in, like an old pair of blue jeans that have long since passed their throw-away date. The bottoms of the legs that have been dragged across the ground underneath the heels of your sneakers are all frayed, there are holes in the knees, and the zipper gets stuck sometimes, but their feel is unmatched and there’s no part of you that would even consider throwing them away. They just fit in a way no other pair can.

Detroit may never be whole again, but it’s still worth hanging onto, even if there are those who can’t understand why. For us, it’s something we’ll hold onto forever.

Saturday, September 19^th, 2015 – Detroit City FC 3, Ann Arbor FC 2

On the scale of time, 72 hours is nothing. It’s less than half a week, a tiny sliver of an average human life, and impossibly small if you’re thinking cosmically. When it comes to experiences, however, duration holds far less weight. A rush of adrenaline or a breathtaking sight may last only a matter of seconds, but the memory can stay with you for the rest of your life.

Over the course of four seasons, in all competitions, Detroit City FC played 36 matches at its home stadium, Cass Tech. At roughly 2 hours per match, this comes out to about 72 hours, or 3 days total.

How does a place where you’ve spent such a short time come to have such meaning for you? Moreover, how do you say goodbye to that place when it feels like only yesterday that you walked into it for the very first time?

For me, I had to do a little bit of personal reflection. When 2012 began, I had no job, I could count my friends on one hand, even if that hand had been involved in a tragic fireworks accident, and I had no real direction. I’m not going to say that City saved my life, or anything so dramatic as that, but it influenced me far more than I realized at the time.

Coming to Cass for a few hours each summer helped me recognize soccer as a true passion. Whether I’m playing, watching, reading, or writing about it, not much else gives me that feeling of healthy obsession.

This place inspired me to start my blog, a decision which I easily consider one of the best I’ve ever made. As a former introvert of a moderately severe degree, this site became my vehicle with which I could work my way into the supporter community. Cass was the birthplace of many friendships, a good number of which I expect will be of the lifelong variety. It was where I broke out of my shell for good.

For far too many young adults in America, loneliness and depression are frequent companions. We’ve all experienced it on one level or another, and even as technology has allowed us to connect with those all around us, we still ache for true, genuine companionship. At Cass, we were given an opportunity that’s rare in the modern age: the chance to build a community. It took some time, and a lot of work, but we did it. What we’ve made won’t be broken, and with a larger home, it will grow and grow.

This is where I found myself. This is where we fell in love. This is where our dream became real.