It’s been…a week. And we all have thoughts about what transpired in DC and at the Capitol. I’ve expressed some of them already. But as I’ve taken some time to process everything, I realize that as a DC resident I have more thoughts that those who’ve never had the opportunity to live here. And these thoughts about my city, in my opinion, are important for me to share.
You may not know this about me, but I’ve fallen in love at first site before (and it wasn’t with my husband). It was with Washington, DC. I was 17. My parents and I were on the typical middle-class road trip that people like me with privilege do to visit colleges. I’ve been an outspoken, political nerd pretty much since birth. So this led me to look only seriously at schools in the DC area, even though I had never been there.
But we drove over Memorial Bridge, crossed over in DC, and that was it for me. I saw the iconic monuments in front of me, the back of the Lincoln, the Washington Monument in the distance, and my heart grew. I knew this was the city for me. I had to be here. I went to George Washington University starting in 2008 and haven’t left. I even made my husband (we started dating in high school, dated throughout college long distance, and then he moved to Florida for a job…) move here years later, because I knew he’d love it as much as me and we’d make it our home together.
Roswell, GA will always be my hometown. But DC…DC is the city that raised me. It’s where I learned not only be on my own, but also where I learned I’m never actually alone. It taught me to pay attention to all around you and appreciate what’s there, because maybe one day your office view won’t be of historical places. It taught me to be strong yet vulnerable in the face of tragedy. It’s shown me both the ugliness and darkness of the world, but also shown me there’s always light and the opportunity to grow and learn. It’s been a quiet listener when I needed an ear, and a stern voice when I needed to listen.
It’s been where some of my favorite life memories have taken place. I’ve walked barefoot on the sidewalks home from bars, cried in the rain outside restaurants, played in the snow near the White House, played wiffleball near the Lincoln, and walked my dog at the very Capitol vandalized by terrorists earlier this week. I’ve marched for causes I believe in and witnessed others march for ones I don’t support. I’ve lived in different areas and experienced the beauty of the diversity of those living and working within our boundaries. DC has been the backdrop for so much of my life.
I am truly lucky to call this place home.
Some members of Congress like to say how those here don’t understand “real America.” Well, guess what? We are as real as the rest of the United States. Over 700k of us live here, we work here, we raise families here. Including mine. We’re not only real people, but we have real American problems just like the rest of the country. Pay attention to our local news for 5 minutes and you’ll see we’re not that different from say, my hometown of Roswell.
It’s been a rough week. But part of why I love DC is because we bounce back no matter what’s going on on our streets. We clean up after a mess has been made and continue on. We support each other, even when our government, or other Americans, do not support us. We may not have the right to equal representation in Congress (and DC should be a state. Full stop.), but we do all we can to welcome those that do.
Saturday morning as I was heading towards Navy Yard to get coffee, I looked down East Capitol Street, and down Independence Avenue, and saw the Capitol in the distance. It was there, shining in the sun, still a symbol of the American experiment we’re all a part of. Although she was wounded this week, she still stands. A foundation was rocked, but it still did not collapse. Freedom, the statue, glistened a bit when I looked up at it, telling me that she is still here to try to guide us towards the more perfect Union we all desperately crave.
The Capitol is still here, and so is DC. DC will not be intimidated by anyone
