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Philadelphia is My Jawn

Brotherly Love and Ready to Brawl

By LUCINDA M GUNNINPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Philadelphia waterfront from the Delaware River.

Home isn’t where your heart is, it’s where you get defensive.

Okay, it’s not as catchy, but hear me out.

My heart is in Dublin. I love that city. I want to visit it often. But it’s not my home.

So when someone says something about high rental prices or some other issue in Dublin, my reaction is generally, “Wow, that stinks.”

But when someone attacks the City of Brotherly Love, I’m ready to fight.

Philadelphia became my adopted home a little more than six years ago. I mean, I don’t actually live in the city. I’m a suburban dweller. But Philly is where I take people when they’re visiting and where I like to spend some free time, when there isn’t a pandemic raging.

I don’t love water ice, the Eagles, or Philly cheesesteak. I like all those things, but they’re not my jawn.

Oh yeah, I don’t say jawn. That’s for locals with a lot more invested in the city than I am. Or so I thought.

Then a couple years ago, the Eagles won a big football game and everyone in the country wanted to harp on the riots that followed. And I got a bit defensive. I may have pointed out to a lot of people that their city of choice rioted after some sports championship too.

And then I started seeing how the city got slighted on the national news. Major storm hitting the East Coast? We’ll talk about the impact in D.C., New York, and Boston. Philly’s getting slammed? Not worth mentioning, despite being the sixth largest city in the country.

Sports fans are more likely to remember the city for its role in Rocky, or for throwing snowballs at some referees, than for the sports teams.

Others might have stronger memories of the MOVE bombing than of the inclusive murals that dot the city.

It helps that President Biden is from an hour away in Delaware and the First Lady is a Philly girl, but there’s so much that Philly has to offer and people seem to dismiss it, or just miss it.

One of the top attractions in Philadelphia.

First time visitors to the city usually want to see the Liberty Bell or Constitution Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were drafted and signed. When we say that the country was founded here in Pennsylvania, we’re not exaggerating.

The meeting room at Constitution Hall where debate over the U.S. Constitution took place.

And historic Philly is well worth the visit. One of my favorite places in the city is a house that was the one-time home of Edgar Allen Poe.

The Poe House in Philadelphia.

But Philadelphia is also home to modern art and culture. The Museum of Art is more than just the famous “Rocky” steps. Its classic art from around the world and the local area, educational programs and lessons in fashion.

The Theater of the Living Arts, that’s the TLA to locals, is a small but amazing concert venue. Bands that are just getting their feet wet in the American music industry often play there. We saw The HU there in November, 2019. It was the last concert we made it to before the pandemic.

The HU at the TLA. November, 2019.

And there’s the cultural diversity. From the amazingness that is Amalgam Comics, the first comic store on the East Coast owned by a Black woman, to tiny restaurants featuring world cuisine, Philly is an international melting pot. The city is dotted with murals and sculptures.

A tiny Venezuelan restaurant in Philadelphia.

The pandemic has necessarily slowed some things in the city, but those of us that adore Philly are impatiently waiting for the return of the Chinese Lantern Festival, an annual event usually held in the heart of the city in June.

Chinese Lantern Festival, 2019.

Ultimately, you can love any city. But calling a place home means acknowledging the good with the bad, and defending it from those who only see the bad.

Philadelphia is the foundation of this country, the place where American-style democracy was born. With the election of President Biden, we're helping to take the country back.

And if you don't like it here, we'll be more than happy to fight about it.

After all, that's our jawn.

america
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About the Creator

LUCINDA M GUNNIN

Lucinda Gunnin is a commercial property manager and author in suburban Philadelphia. She is an avid gamer, sushi addict, and animal advocate. She writes about storage and moving, gaming, gluten-free eating and more. Twitter: @LucindaGunnin

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