Last week’s was one of the most fun week’s in Cleveland that I can remember – for the city as a whole. I kept telling myself not to get excited or get my hopes up about LeBron James but at some point, I was totally wrapped up and couldn’t get enough. Every rumor, every tweet, every rumor overheard on sports radio…I was addicted (and when Z posted a picture of him and LeBron on Facebook…just stop). Remember, I’m a girl addicted to CLE sports and was known to drop quite the pretty penny on playoff tickets. My poor coworkers couldn’t stop laughing. I got my hopes up with each rumor….I checked LeBron’s website at least 30 times Wednesday night…then delayed a meeting when I thought the announcement was coming at 3:30 (cause, hellooooo? that’d be the best marketing stunt ever). So there should be no surprise at all that I was in a lunch meeting when the announcement actually came out.

And I cried at it.

There’s something about Northeast Ohioians and LeBron’s letter just proved it. Yes, I know he’s from Akron and not Cleveland but listen – we’re all the same. Yes, I was angry when he left (pretty sure I cried then too). But we forgive and we move on (which you could tell from the tweets from Clevelanders in anticipation of the possibility). Especially with a letter like LeBron’s. He gets it. He knows what it meant for Clevelanders to lose him (more about how we lost him though). And he knows what it means for him to come home.

Friday – the city was alive in a way I haven’t experienced. We were still high on the joy of finding out the RNC is coming to Cleveland. The Indians are winning. And LeBron is coming home. I don’t know what it’s like to have one of our teams win a championship but it sure is feeling like we did these days.

Other cities are recognizing us. We’re being featured on National News.

But here’s the thing – many Cleveland – well, we already know how awesome this city is. We know what the people here are like. Like LeBron said, we’re hardworking. We’re dedicated. We don’t give up. We never lose hope. And we care. The country is finally seeing that and I couldn’t be more proud to be in the city.

Cleveland get ready. This is just the beginning for our city. And it’s going to be fun.