A house in the neighborhood became vacant. Not sure what happened but I believe the owner passed away. The property was kept up for awhile, but eventually it started to deteriorate. Occasionally, someone would take shelter there, but no one moved in permanently. It was a simple house that probably made someone happy to call it home. As you can see in the photo from Google Maps, it was in rough shape, but it was salvageable. Unfortunately, before that could happen someone burned it down.
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| Image capture: Sep 2013 ©2016 Google |
Rising Up
What will make Detroit's comeback complete? Will more development in downtown or in Midtown be the deciding factor? No, quite simply it will happen because of the people. Here's a photo from the fall of 2015 that shows the remains of the house fire. The message points out that when bad things happen, you need to persevere in order for things to get better.
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| Message: we rise from the ashes |
Hope
Without a doubt the story is sad. A nice house, probably had a nice family with a proud homeowner, but things happen and all doesn't continue on for the good. I think the artists (I know there were more than one because they signed their names in chalk on the sidewalk) were looking toward the future. And their message is one of hope. The Detroit city motto, Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus, which is Latin for We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes was perhaps a strong influence. I thought I had a more in focus photo, but I searched through the massive Detroit Video Daily archives, and all I could find was the one below.
The message (it's kind of hard to read):
Detroit is not a cold dead place
We rise from the ashes
You are loved
Forever and always
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| Click on the photo to enlarge |
So it will be people: the artists, the families, the workers, the everyday people getting through the tough times persevering and rising from ashes that will complete the Detroit comeback. When people have hope and love then all obstacles can be overcome. People that spread that message are the ones moving the city forward. The artists' message was only temporary because nothing in chalk can stay, yet the spirit of the words lives on.
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| After a heavy rain, the message was gone |
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