Love Note #22: Buried in Love

Rochester,

When I left this morning, after an hour of shoveling, everything was buried. But tonight I came home to a completely clean driveway, a path to my trash can, a street where every place a car parks on the right hand side was totally down to the pavement. I wasn't the only non-snowblower owning house to look like this. Clearly you have a heart of gold. I started crying. I feel, especially lately, that there aren't that many people left who just do good things because it's the right thing to do. 

You, Rochester, are different and full of those kinds of people. I'd like to know who you are so I can give you a bottle of wine, homemade poundcake, and a hug. Thank you for making this stressful month a little less so.

Deanna

Deanna has lived in Rochester for 10 years and has recently bought a house in the Park Ave. neighborhood on Brunswick Street where the neighbors are just the most amazing people ever.

Love Note #21: I love you because you helped raise me

Name: Tyler Pauly
I am: A senior at St. Bonaventure
Years in Rochester: All 21, except while away at college
Current home: Pittsford

Dear Rochester,

I love you because you helped raise me. Your four seasons, even the harshest winters, were backdrops to all the laughs and thrills and lessons of my youth.

Generations past, my ancestors from Italy and Germany somehow found their way to this bustling little city, probably by train from the Big Apple. My grandfather started a business that still operates today, manufacturing menu covers used by restaurants far and wide. He and my grandmother raised their children in one of your cozy neighborhoods, and many years later I was born.

Because of my grandfather’s line of work, I learned early on that there’s a little bit of Rochester in every corner of the world. Whether it’s a Kodak camera, or a Wegmans shopping bag, or a Xerox printing machine, or a paycheck from Paychex, or one of your well-informed displaced natives singing your praises in some far-off place…you are everywhere.

I’m a senior in college right now, and I want to see and experience the world. I may become a boomerang that comes back one day, after I’ve had a taste of the harsh realities of life outside the 585. But I take comfort in knowing that the Rochester diaspora means home is all over the place. I just have to make sure I move somewhere with a Wegmans.  (But I’m young and restless so I’ll probably be back. Just be patient.)

With all my love and gratitude,

Tyler 

The Coal Tower in Schoen Place on a Snowy Day

Love Note #20: She's Perfectly Imperfect

         Name: Bill Schwappacher
         I am: Creative Director/ Interactive Developer
         Years in Rochester: 9
         Current home: Rochester (Upper Monroe)

You know you’re in love when it is her flaws that turn you on the most.
I was dating the perfect American city when true love hit me. She was my college sweetheart and the poster girl for what most college boys crave. A sporty, young, mid-western beauty that loved cars and knew how to have a good time on Saturday night. Best of all she was easy. I could buy and do whatever I wanted and always knew there was any number of jobs to support my consumptive habits. 

But my heart left her when I was reacquainted with a childhood friend in upstate New York. 

It had been many years since I spent much time walking her streets. As I did, fond youthful memories mixed with the sad realization that the years I spent away from her were a bit unkind. Abandonment, infighting and insular thinking had left her greyed, unsure and rudderless. Yet, as we spent time reacquainting ourselves, I discovered a woman that had endured and was still full of alluring surprises. Her lilacs and magnolias filled my senses. Her unique and deep history seduced me. Her diverse and majestic neighborhoods invited me in. And her kind and generous people made me want to spend every day and night with her. 

When I told those close to me that I was madly in love and wanted to run away with her, I got reactions of bewilderment and pity. “But she is so cold,” they’d say. “She’s plagued by brownfields, mired in poverty and doesn’t even have a Crate and Barrel.” 

“Exactly,” I’d reply, “she is perfectly imperfect and that is what I love most.” Perfection is no fun. There is no challenge or adventure in clean homogeneity. To me, love is about rolling up your sleeves, investing yourself in someone and helping them grow. The fun part is growing with them and taking pleasure in celebrating their idiosyncrasies. 

When we came back together we were both deeply flawed and directionless. In the nine years since, we have done a lot with and for each other. We have and continue to support, tear down, reassure, play with and even fight one another. I’d like to think we are both a little better for it. 

I’m crazy in love with you Rochester, scars and all. You are without a doubt the woman worth fighting for.