This is reposted from instagram, but belongs here as well. I haven’t update much and dropped the ball on delivering all the news over the past 2 weeks about the LOVE ban getting lifted due to the renovations coming to the park.
I didn’t get to skate last week at the open invite to LOVE one last time but I went last night in the rain and slush to take a walk around for old time sake and revisited a lot of memories and still don’t know what to think or how to feel about it all.
I first visited Philly in ’96 with Steve Healy via LowRider Skateshop. I had just graduated high school and had no idea what to do next. Skateboarding was life at that point in time but I knew Philadelphia was the place to be. We stayed in West Philly in Fat Bill’s tiny 1 bedroom apartment. We watched Trilogy for the first time. We watched it almost non stop at the apartment when we weren’t skating.
We pushed from 38th and Spruce all the way down South Street. I remember seeing the skyline from the bridge for the first time. I remember being amazed at the entire mission and how far we had skated yet it felt like normal. We skated the entire time. I learned pole jams and wall rides. We met up at Love Park every day with so many other skateboarders. I hadn’t seen anything like it. It was an amazing, eye opening experience.
I fell in love with LOVE park and the city of Philadelphia. I knew I wanted to live here.
2 years later I moved to Philadelphia and aside from a 2 year “vacation” in Albuquerque, I’ve called this city my home. I’ve made endless amounts of new friends and memories.
They say they are going to donate the granite and relocate it eventually but how, where, and when is anyone’s guess. We are losing a world renowned spot and the city will never be the same. Everything happens for a reason I guess and although skateboarding is no longer life the way it once was, I hope this city can continue to grow and remain influential to skateboarding. I don’t claim to be an OG by any means but I’m happy to have put my time in and contributed how I could.
Thank you Skateboarding. Thank You Edward Bacon. Thank you to all of the people I’ve met in this city, especially those who are carrying the torch. Thank you LOVE Park. Rest In Peace.
#lastdaysoflove #lovepark #philadelphia #riplovepark #skateboarding
