"Syracuse is steeped in an irreplaceable sense of place and cohesion difficult to find elsewhere."

"There is as much sense of belonging, more nostalgia, more accumulated aspiration, more embodied history and remembered purpose in the drumlins, streets and neighborhoods here as in any other spot in this nation."

Syracuse Post Standard 1/8/11

To the Editor:

Sean Kirst’s columns are always a treat, and his Dec. 29 piece recollecting his 20 years in town brought tears to my eyes.

Many of us have marveled from the same views he described. From the panorama atop Woodland Reservoir on South Geddes, and from Schiller Park’s intimate vista down upon the church spires and chimney smoke plumes, I’ve also said to myself, my hometown.

I arrived too, 33 years ago for social work graduate school, and stayed. And stayed and stayed. The more I’ve learned of Syracuse past, the deeper and richer my connection has grown to the people, organizations, architecture, the lands, lakes and woods of home. I’ve grown roots

We may be a struggling, Rust Belt, has-been city, but by God, there is as much sense of belonging, more nostalgia, more accumulated aspiration, more embodied history and remembered purpose in the drumlins, streets and neighborhoods here as in any other spot in this nation. From our native predecessors who worshipped our lake to the nation-building laborers whose work still stands, from Jermain Loguen’s abolitionists to the anti-war/social justice tradition recognized the world over, from three centuries of lacrosse to Syracuse University’s latest undefeated basketball squad, Syracuse is steeped in an irreplaceable sense of place and cohesion difficult to find elsewhere.

Kirst captures what a lot of us feel. Thanks for his eloquence.

Gary Weinstein
Syracuse

http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2011/01/sean_kirst_column_captures_aff.html