Written by Katie Caralis
It's been more than 13 years, but I can still hear the voice of the man who spent my childhood selling peanuts outside Tiger Stadium. “Threee dollas innsiiide, ooone dolla heeere!” My dad always bought the one-dollar peanuts knowing half the shells would be empty, just like the half-empty seats, the Tigers being a losing team for most of the '90s, and the half-empty city, Detroit on the decline. Beaming, Dad would take my excited hand and lead me across the long bridge, over the broken glass and potholes, passed the burned-out buildings, up the winding blue ramp and inside the park we knew was magic, inside the city we knew was beautiful.
Katie Caralis is one of the winners of Michigan Radio's One Minute Michigan Story Writing Contest. Allison Downey read the story.
