I grew up in a smallish town up north, then went to college in Green Bay. Soon after I graduated I moved to Milwaukee, and I remember driving down Wisconsin Avenue one night and saying out loud to myself, "I live in Milwaukee!" That might make people laugh, but seriously, it felt very exciting and surreal.
That was over nine years ago now, and I'm still excited to live here. There have been so many changes and developments. Of course, the Milwaukee Art Museum expansion. Shortly after moving here I was walking around down there with a friend who had moved here at the same time, and a woman was attempting to explain to us what it was going to look like when it was done, and we had to just do the nod and smile. "Wings? Uh, yeah, sounds cool." It was hard to image the finished product, which is, of course, awesome. And I love how lively the downtown has become. Even though it's not personally a regular destination, it's great that downtown Milwaukee has a night life now. And can I take this opportunity to mention how fabulous the new Marquette Interchange looks?
My point is, I'm proud to live here. Amongst my own changes and developments I bought a house in Stallis with a guy I'm still crazy about after almost 12 years, and we had a kid. And now I'm proud to be raising my son here, too. It's funny because sometimes when I'm out and about I hear somebody say that Milwaukee's too small or, OMG, it's soooo boring here. I'd like them to ship them up to my home town for a while. (Though northern Wisconsin certainly has its merits, and I always feel nostalgic when I go back up there.) It's going to be so fun to show my son around as he gets older. The zoo, the art and public museums, Discovery World, Betty Brinn, Organ Piper Pizza Palace, etc.... He's definitely going to have a different childhood from mine. Not better or worse, just different. I grew up running around in the woods, and he's going to be a city kid. I hope he feels as lucky to live here as I do.
