Greetings.
I used to be a bigger part of the SSP family. For six years I made my daily pilgrimage to this forum, I drove my poor Ford Focus (the first of two) to its grave darting to forum meets at cities near and far. I made friends here that I grew to cherish and still keep very much in contact here to this day. I even fell in love here once.
And then, life took some turns. The Great Recession forced me to leave my beloved hometown... in the five years since I've moved to Charlotte, became a teacher, earned a Masters and now am embarking on my first school leadership position. Life changed, and I left the SSP world for the most part behind.
Despite the cliche, I thought it was time to come home again. First, I have made my yearly summer pilgrimage to Detroit - MY hometown, the place where I yearn to still make my way back to at some point to add my contribution to the comeback underway - despite what headlines you read and the same ruin porn photographs shown across the mediascape. After spending weeks with family and friends, I took quite a few pictures from my dusty camera over the past few years. These may not be award winners, but they represent my ability to capture a dynamic, depressed, resilient and remarkable place that formed the person I am and continues to shape the person I strive to become.
Over the next few weeks I am going to make an effort - however small it may be due to another school year beginning to gear up - to share more of my present and recent past travels to you. Enjoy. And thanks SSP for allowing an old forumer the honor to come home.
Pictures from Summer 2011, 2012 and '13.
-TNTD
More threads appearing your way soon. Thanks for viewing.