It was good seeing those things and making new memories as well. Michigan has always had a soft place in my heart but it is rough and getting rougher. My recollection of how great of an area Rochester is wasn't the same last week. You can tell where funding to keep things clean and repaired just isn't there. However, if there's one thing they know to do in the north, it's to survive and to make do. Some places look better than others and other things just need to be let go.
Tiger Stadium is one of those places. It is one of those childhood places that we all have and will remember forever. The younger you were, the larger in life it was. The older you got, the larger the story or the tale. 
This is how I remember my trips to Detroit. We really didn't have a reason to go anywhere else downtown. Detroit is not one of those cities that you go, hang out and spend a day. You go purposefully, lock your car, go to where you need to go and enjoy being there. That's why the old stadium was double-decked all the way around. You didn't have to see Detroit. What was outside was outside. Baseball, your family and friends, memories and stories....those were all inside. The blue and orange seats, the tall light towers, the dark concourses that, when you walked onto that blue steel ramp toward the field, let in the sunlight and the bright green grass of the field. For a baseball fan, it's heaven. Driving on I-75 toward the stadium, it was a large white castle with flags on top and gates all around. It was a protected fortress from the crime and racial hate of the city outside of its walls. I will live with those sounds, sights and smells forever and always hated the fact that it would never be there....
This is how I remember my trips to Detroit. We really didn't have a reason to go anywhere else downtown. Detroit is not one of those cities that you go, hang out and spend a day. You go purposefully, lock your car, go to where you need to go and enjoy being there. That's why the old stadium was double-decked all the way around. You didn't have to see Detroit. What was outside was outside. Baseball, your family and friends, memories and stories....those were all inside. The blue and orange seats, the tall light towers, the dark concourses that, when you walked onto that blue steel ramp toward the field, let in the sunlight and the bright green grass of the field. For a baseball fan, it's heaven. Driving on I-75 toward the stadium, it was a large white castle with flags on top and gates all around. It was a protected fortress from the crime and racial hate of the city outside of its walls. I will live with those sounds, sights and smells forever and always hated the fact that it would never be there....until two weeks ago. My wife, Sara, had never seen this place that I always had h
igh praise for. Driving north on the interstate, you couldn't see it. The city was doing construction right at that spot where you would pass the stadium almost making you have to go out of your way to see what's left. What we found wasn't a ballpark at all. Only one of the light-towers was still standing and the outside of the stadium looked like it had been stripped. You could see where the crane had stopped working because there was a big gash in the side of the stadium 
right behind where home plate was. If you remember spending that time in that ballpark, it takes your breath away. All of the visible memories that you can point to and show were going, going and, as of that Tuesday night, were almost gone. Four days later, my uncle, his wife and little girl went with Sara and I to go see it. My uncle, being older, obviously had more memories than do and his response was the same. We were on our way to the new ballpark just down the road and realized that I was getting to that age where I like hanging onto the past and it's hard to accept the new. To see your past being tangibally removed is a tough pill to swallow.
igh praise for. Driving north on the interstate, you couldn't see it. The city was doing construction right at that spot where you would pass the stadium almost making you have to go out of your way to see what's left. What we found wasn't a ballpark at all. Only one of the light-towers was still standing and the outside of the stadium looked like it had been stripped. You could see where the crane had stopped working because there was a big gash in the side of the stadium 
right behind where home plate was. If you remember spending that time in that ballpark, it takes your breath away. All of the visible memories that you can point to and show were going, going and, as of that Tuesday night, were almost gone. Four days later, my uncle, his wife and little girl went with Sara and I to go see it. My uncle, being older, obviously had more memories than do and his response was the same. We were on our way to the new ballpark just down the road and realized that I was getting to that age where I like hanging onto the past and it's hard to accept the new. To see your past being tangibally removed is a tough pill to swallow. My trips to Michigan somehow always include some kind of trip down memory lane. It's either our old house in Woodhaven or a run by Rochester College to see my first dorm or a visit to see old friends at church. Michigan is an important part of my past but I just can't see it being an important part of my future. My mom has made the changes she's needed to made and is holding onto the memories that she needs to hang onto. I hope she continues to move forward in that direction.
The Monday after Sara and I got back from Detroit, Tiger Stadium's last main piece fell to the ground. 
To the right, is what remains of the building that sat at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. It is completely open now to the city and hopefully, very soon, something else productive will replace its space. The Bible tells us that the things on this earth are not meant to last forever. Memories and moments, however, always stick with us. I'm thankful for the times I had at that place but it's time to let it go. New memories can be made now when we make our trips to Michigan and I can only hope that I will hang onto those and make them as precious as my old memories are.
To the right, is what remains of the building that sat at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. It is completely open now to the city and hopefully, very soon, something else productive will replace its space. The Bible tells us that the things on this earth are not meant to last forever. Memories and moments, however, always stick with us. I'm thankful for the times I had at that place but it's time to let it go. New memories can be made now when we make our trips to Michigan and I can only hope that I will hang onto those and make them as precious as my old memories are. 
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