Motown. Motor City. Detroit, Rock City. 

Rick and Pam Tanielian were born and raised in the City of Detroit before violence became normalized in the 1960s, pushing out anybody with enough money to the suburbs. They did not move far, and all my life I could see the City skyline down Grand River or out a second or third floor window. Mom commuted every day to Motor City Casino for more than twenty years. My wife and I enjoy visits for fireworks displays, Grand Prix free days, Detroit techno, running events, Lions and Tigers games, and street art downtown.

In 1996, upon graduation from Farmington High School, Adam accepted a partial scholarship to play varsity football at Michigan Technological University, in Houghton -- in a river valley between the main Upper Peninsula and the Keweenaw Peninsula. #64 was familiar with the cold and snow from years of visits to the Kangas Farm in Ontonagon, just 40 miles southwest of Houghton. Having no concept of broader economy, and not knowing what he was interested in, Tanielian switched majors more than a couple times, from electrical engineering to environmental engineering, back to electrical. Then after working 1999 summer internship at GM and 2000 semester co-op at Curwood, it seemed like engineering was not a suitable career path. If MTU had offered a bachelor's in psychology at that time, T would have pursued that undergraduate track, but the end result of 188 credits and six years at Tech was a bachelor's in industrial marketing and management with a minor in Psychology, certificates in Japanese and International Business. By that time, the Michigan economy had collapsed following 2001 terror attacks, and anything but a STEM degree was just about worthless. Hence, the move the Thailand to start teaching. 

Although Detroit is most certainly the origin of this species of man, the Upper Peninsula has been more of a place to call "home". The people of the Deep North are inviting, friendly, and honest. There is something that happens when people are forced indoors for five months out of the year, when staying outside is not an option, when the weather is literally a matter of life and death. There is a sincerity, a peace, and a love that exists in those woods that Adam has not known anywhere else in the world. That's not to say the winters are always fun; in fact, quite the opposite sometimes. But that childhood babysitters, the Kangas family, and college roommate, Richie Vollwerth, would continue to open their homes and hearts many years after my departure, without question or expectation, speaks more about character in this little corner of the American landscape than I can articulate.