Still Minnesota Proud

Congrats to the Philadelphia Eagles who handily whooped the Vikings yesterday to go on to the Super Bowl. (This post is payment of a lost bet with my dear friend Kate Delaney.)

When I first met Kate, she gave me the nickname "Minnesota", a moniker I proudly own.

Minnesotans are proud of our own, from State Fair Butter Princesses to the Prince of Paisley Park. Even in the face of soul-crushing defeat - again - Minnesotans are proud of our sports teams that always seem to get us thisclose to victory.

Minnesotans are known for their 'nice', but it goes beyond the passive-aggressiveness that may sneak in there occasionally. We are genuinely kind to each other (for the most part, unless some yahoo is driving slow in the left lane on 35W). We are a rainbow of nationalities, beliefs, and lifestyles, all of which are welcomed in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Finally, Minnesotans are fiercely resilient. We bundle up when the wind howls and temperatures plummet. We dig out after storms. We may shed purple tears, but we also know how to rise up and keep going even when it's hard. We are proud. We are kind. We are resilient. We are the #BoldNorth.