What is my relationship to Baltimore? I was born in a South Baltimore Hospital.  I was raised in east Baltimore County [Rosedale and Middle River], just over the city line, as was my parents.  I have lived downtown [with Bob], in a western suburb right outside the city [in Woodlawn, ten years with Chuck] and NW of the city [in Randallstown 22 years with Frank and after he died] until I relocated to White Oak [or Silver Spring] MD, which is outside DC in 2007.  I moved because my last four jobs were around DC and I wanted to cut down on the lengthy commuting.  Tom and Gem were born in Mercy Hospital, which is in downtown Baltimore, as was Annelise and the new grandchild will be.  I have worked, shopped and spent a lot of time in downtown Baltimore all of my life.
 

In the past couple of days, I have heard so many ridiculous things about Baltimore that I have been been pretty much keeping my mouth shut. Told Tom to check and make sure that his father [Bob] was okay since he still lives in the city. I wonder if the people in Ferguson were left just shaking their heads over what they read about their town too? I have read some pretty outlandish statements about the police, about the protestors, about Freddie Gray, about the mayor, about Martin O'Malley [what did he have to scurry back from Europe for? Not like he can help!], about the O's playing to an empty stadium, about the riots in 1968. Not one of them sound to me like they really know what they are talking about. CNN is covering the story with a breathless kind of sensationalism that puts my teeth on edge and if I read one more set of self-righteous do-gooders pontificating about how horrible the city is....  Baltimore has problems, there is no doubt. Every major metro area does -- and it is all acerbated by income inequity and a lousy educational system. Like too many other things, we have gotten what we paid for, neh?  It does have a grittier feel than many East Coast cities because it is more blue-collar and it is one of the few places that you can go from downtown to country in about 45 minutes.

And Baltimore is and always will be my hometown.  I don't know what else to say except none of us are giving up on it......