An Open Letter to Buffalo, With Love

(Photo: VentureGalleries.com)

Have you ever felt the incredible wanderlust of true #Buffalove? It’s that intense happiness that overcomes your body following a touchdown. The red, white, and blue face paint creases with every smile and laugh. You’re watching the sunset over Lake Erie while the warm summer breeze caresses your skin, and you think to yourself unconvincingly ‘I can survive our winters for these summer nights’. The excitement that can be heard through Rick Jeanneret’s voice every time he screams “and he shoots… he scoresss!” Do you remember shoveling the snow off of your roof during the last storm? Have you observed all of the action at the Allentown Art Festival, or overate at the Taste of Buffalo? Do you remember getting dressed for the St. Patrick’s Parade and slapping pussy willows on Dyngus Day? This is Buffalo; this is our home. We care for one another and we’re proud to be the City of Good Neighbors.

I have the honor of being crowned Miss New York International. As a Buffalo born woman, I have the even better honor of showing New York State why we are the Queen City.

For my neighbors who do not know why I got involved with pageantry two years ago, it was simply because I needed a hobby. My mother passed away unexpectedly and I found myself in the darkest place I have ever experienced. However, as the strong woman she raised me to be, I was able to look myself in the mirror and confront my demons. I needed to focus on living a healthy and honest lifestyle, ultimately striving for happiness. I stumbled into pageantry by pure happenstance. It proved to be the best thing I have done for myself thus far. I am focused, I feel beautiful, and I strive for a better lifestyle everyday. As Miss Buffalo International, I became heavily committed to Hospice Buffalo. Hospice was there for my family when my mother passed, and I attribute my successes to the Hospice bereavement counselor who visited with me while my mother was ill.

The pain I suffer from my the loss of my mother, paired with the unforgiving images of her ailing body that lay still framed in my head, is no less traumatizing than it was April 16th, 2013. As neighbors, I know you too have suffered. And I want to hold your hand because I am on your team.

My goal in life is to ensure that your children, nieces, nephews and loved-ones will not be alone if such a tragedy were to occur in your family. I want to be here to hug your loved ones when you are gone, like the woman who was there for me. I want to hug you when experience a loss, and I want to tell you that it will be okay, because I promise the sun will come out tomorrow.

We each give part of ourselves to this community. We stand as individuals woven together in the blanket of Buffalove. I will continue to give this city all that I have, and I will continue to make a difference in the lives of families, friends, young and old because Buffalo, you give me so much more in return.

I will grow my roots you have nurtured for me to an international level. I will take our love and our pride across the globe to uplift families who are battling life-threatening illnesses. I will show the world the kindness that breeds out of our city and the strength behind our renaissance. I will serve as an ambassador, and as a honest representative of each one of my supporters.

I am sincerely grateful for all of your support and kindness during my journey. I cannot guarantee what the outcome of the next three weeks will look like, but I do promise that I will give everything I have and more to make you proud. So I thank you Buffalo, for being on my team.

Lia DiNunzio