By Bob Yanega
There can be no greater miracle – some may call it no greater fantasy, dream-come-true, wish fulfillment, whatever – but there can be no greater one than for a loved one who is dead to come back to life. We see it happen in movies, we pray for it to be true in real life. But this week, it really happened in Cleveland, Ohio.
Life is flourishing in a city once thought dead, where new buildings, new businesses, and whole new industries are springing up. Cleveland is a city that seems to be thriving in every way possible: ranking high nationally in affordability, quality of life, and the rate of economic recovery. A city that is the envy of foodies everywhere, a city with a vibrant arts community, and a city booming with new plans and new construction.
But nothing is as exciting as a city where miracles happen that affect the lives of real, human, individual citizens. As a father of two daughters, I cannot imagine the pain of losing a daughter, agonizing for years whether to give up hope or pray for a miracle, and then to actually experience the joy of my wildest dreams come true. The joy of a father receiving his daughter back from the dead. ABC News reports that there is a .04 percent chance of these sorts of cases ending with the victim being found alive. As one of DeJesus’ former classmates, Kayla Rogers, said: “They don’t find people who go missing, you know.” But in Cleveland, this week they did.
Cleveland is a city that seems to be prone to rising from the dead, metaphorically speaking. From a river that burned to one with rowing clubs and waterfront amenities. From abandoned warehouses to chic urban lofts. From the “most miserable city” to perhaps the most livable and affordable major city in North America. This is the city of Superman, who specialized in fixing what seemed hopeless and impossible from a human perspective.
Cleveland is also a city that has hosted other superheroes. Two summers ago it was The Avengers, and now captain America himself is returning to shoot the next sequel. But to three West Side families, Charles Ramsey is the only superhero that they care about. Thanks to his very Cleveland-like decision to NOT ignore a woman’s cry for help, they now have a real life story that we usually see only in the movies. Neighbor is off work, eating fast food, and saves three kidnapping victims – where else but Cleveland?
But this week, something happened that goes beyond the portfolio of action heroes and can only be attributed to the divine. As one commentator on a major news website said, “this makes me want to believe in God”. Go ahead and believe, my friend. Who will argue with you in this case? Who can prove that this week God didn’t show up on Seymour Avenue?
And God is at work in other ways, restoring this once-broken city and the broken people who live here. No, He hasn’t answered Clevelanders’ most-uttered prayer, which ends with the words “Super Bowl”. But with the Indians current winning streak and Kevin Costner about to shoot a movie here based on the Cleveland Browns, maybe anything is possible!
New life is springing up in a network of urban farms and local markets, which are rising from the dead expanses of empty lots and even abandoned industrial sites. The area’s wealth of research hospitals and biotechnology firms are giving the sick and dying a new lease on life. And the recent school reform plan means that perhaps the decay won’t continue into the next generation.
Cleveland has experienced resurgences before. The rise from default in the late 70’s to fiscal stability in the 80’s. The rise from being the butt of jokes to Fortune Magazine’s “Comeback City”. The replacement of traditional manufacturing jobs with a combination of medical, entrepreneurial, and high-tech jobs. But never before in her history has the resurrection been so widespread, so complete. There is virtually no area of life in Cleveland that is not experiencing some form of new life where decay and stagnation formerly reigned. And that includes a small area on the near West Side. An area where the dead come back to life.
As a city, Cleveland still has many challenges. There are still the problems that plague most large cities. And some people will find a way to spin even this story in a negative light. But for Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and their families, Cleveland will always be the place where miracles really do happen.
|
Bob Yanega is a freelance writer, speaker, fountain of ideas, and renaissance man. He is also the founder and executive director for The 1990 Project, a nonprofit organization that has created a series of Choosing Success™ Programs to promote successful scholarship, entrepreneurship, and workforce training to high schoolers in NE Ohio.
A lifelong Clevelander and unofficial Cleveland ambassador, Bob recently published a children’s book,The Littlest Lamppost, which has a strong Cleveland connection. His website ishttp://www.BobSense.com. |
One Response to “Cleveland: City Of Miracles”
Bob Yanega
Howard – thanks for your admiration, and the cautionary statement, but I deliberately turned the hyperbole up a notch to counter the rampant negativity and repeated “systemic failure” accusations. Yes, I too believe that CPD has a lot of problems and that some of it’s so-called leadership needs to go, but it cracks me up that people ignore the thousands of days and tens of thousands of man hours that CPD logs, and they keep coming up with the same 3 or 4 things that CPD has done wrong (and they say things like, “and the list goes on”, but it never does. Yes, those 3 or 4 things were extremely tragic – people wound up dead in some cases – but it is not much different than the track record of other major police departments. I’m not using that as an excuse, and I too have been frustrated when dealing with CPD over break ins to my car and house, but people in the blogosphere make CPD sound like the S.S.!
I think Cool Cleveland likes a diversity of opinions (or hyperbole!) and I also think that they too would like our new motto to be “City of Miracles”.