It’s hard to watch someone, or something, you love go through a rough patch.

I’ve been a Federal Way resident my whole life. I grew up on the playgrounds of Nautilus Elementary and attended school there, which included all the carnivals, skate nights and ice cream socials — not to mention ruining my shoes on the “red field” every year, which sadly no longer exists.

I played all the sports – Boys & Girls Club basketball, Federal Way American Little League (which my father helped build into what it was) and wished every year I could be a Federal Way Hawk – but my parents didn’t allow football until seventh grade.

I attended Sacajawea Middle School, and those were some interesting years. Middle school – what an age. But that’s where I met most of my lifelong friends, essentially my “adopted brothers.”

Finally, I reached Federal Way High School and had a lot of success as an athlete. I held multiple leadership positions and only got suspended one time (sorry, mom).

More importantly for me, everything I love about Federal Way really crystallized after those four years, combined as they were with everything I experienced in my youth.

I could go on about those 18 years of my life, before I turned to a new chapter at Western Washington University in Bellingham, but the one thing I would ultimately keep coming back to is my love for Federal Way.

It feels like I’m drawn here. And it’s because of the people.

Sometimes love breaks your heart, as I’m sure some of the turmoil in the city earlier this year did to you — someone else that loves this great, diverse city — like it did mine.

Make no mistake about it, your heart broke because you care.

Isn’t there something to be said about that?

It says you’ve taken ownership of your community.

It’s what makes this place special. When you own something and you love it, you don’t let it go — especially not when adversity strikes.

That’s kind of what I meant when I said my love for Federal Way became clear after high school, when it was time to “leave.”

I was able to step back and look at the city from an outside perspective to truly realize the bonds I had created and the longing I had to see those people who make you feel at home every day. That’s what the city of Federal Way is.

It makes me feel at home every day. I suspect it does for you too.

Rough patches only last so long. On May 11, I tweeted: “I’m not giving up on you Fed.”

I urge you to do the same.

Evan Elliott, a Federal Way native, is a summer intern for the Mirror. A student at Western Washington University, Elliott is on track to graduate with a journalism degree in 2017.