BELIEVELAND. CLE. 216. CLEVELAND. They are all the nicknames for the land that I love, Cleveland Ohio. I grew up there, I spent the better half of 24 years in Cleveland before I decided to pursue my Master’s degree and move to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to attend Lehigh University.

When I started meeting new people the first question was always, “Where are you from?” Now, I am not technically from Cleveland. I am from a city that is about 20 minutes south. However, everyone always gives the biggest closest city as a point of reference. It is also where all the big teams that I cheer for are located. It is where my friends and I go to when we go out. It is a beautiful place to be.

But back to the question people ask, "Where are you from?" When I tell people Cleveland, the nice ones always say, "That’s cool," or just follow up with where they are from. However, what I normally get is, "Oh, you must be so happy to get away from there," or my favorite, "Mistake on the lake."

The answer is no, I am not happy to be gone. Moving away sucks! I miss it more and more every day; I miss my friends and my family. I miss the sense of belonging and the community feeling that comes with being there. I miss going to baseball games and basketball games and football games. I miss the sense of camaraderie that was felt when you sit at a bar with everyone rooting for the same team. We are not a mistake on the lake. Sure, the Cuyahoga River caught fire back in 1969, but now we have even more fun nicknames like Burning River, but we are no mistake.

We all know that the Cleveland Cavaliers, under the leadership of Lebron James, just won the NBA Championship! This was the first professional championship that the city of Cleveland has seen in 52 years. We have come close before, but it finally happened. The curse of Cleveland has finally been broken. Excuse me for cheering. Sorry I’m not sorry for cheering, for posting endlessly on Facebook, for sharing post after post about the win, about what the team said, for images of the parade, for everything. I am happy.

For all of the people who hate on Cleveland for winning a championship and celebrating, well congratulations for your teams too. I am sorry that you all have taken your wins for granted, but tell me this, if your teams were deemed "losers" for 52 straight years, could you honestly tell me you would still be their fans? Nothing is given to Cleveland, everything is earned. We have been by the side of the Cavs, the Indians and the Browns through the decades of heartbreaks and now that the Cavs have won, we are here to celebrate and bask in the feeling that you have all basked in before. And 2016 is a good year for Cleveland. First the UFC heavyweight champ, Stipe Miocic, next the Lake Erie Monsters, the American Hockey League professional team, won the Calder Cup and now the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship. Next up, the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series and maybe even the Browns! It has always been, "There’s always next year," but now, this is next year!