Imagine your fondest memory. The day your first child was born; I bet you saw God that day. The day you married the love of your life; her eyes were probably glistening. There is so much love, joy and family in an event like the birth of a child or combining two families into one.

Now, imagine being a Cleveland fan on June 19, 2016, AKA the night the drought of Cleveland sports ended with a four point victory over Golden State. I don’t mean a fair-weather, Cleveland fan or an Indians and Cavaliers fan but not a Browns fan; I mean a Cleveland fan, one of the die hards.

Imagine being downtown at the watch party, on the streets or overlooking the game through the parking garage. Think of those Cleveland fans, strangers to each other, barely being able to see the players jetting back and forth with what probably didn’t even look like a basketball, but together and in celebration of the most important night in Cleveland sports.

Remember that time Kyrie scored a three with next to no time left in the game? I mean, 53 seconds, come on. What a shot! Being a Cleveland native, that was equivalent to the motherlode of happiness; better than chocolate fountains, better than Tom Hanks finally being saved from the island, in Castaway, before he knew Helen Hunt moved on and so much better than sex. Trailing behind Golden State, 3-1, to make history, to puke and rally; it was better than everything.

You see, that shot saved us and even if it didn’t, even if somehow Golden State came back, Cleveland fell in love with that shot. Cleveland fans stood in front of their televisions, sweating, shaking, hearts racing, thinking their unwashed jerseys or what they ate for lunch that day helped send good vibes to make that shot. Kyrie did it for Cleveland and we did it for him. I know my dad was more excited this year on Father’s Day than he was the day I was born. NOTE: Dad, it’s okay. I accept that realization and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Being a Cleveland sports fan is a lot like marriage. You start out the year ready to commit, it’s light-hearted, fun and after all you’re newlyweds. A few weeks in you start finding the flaws you hid from each other. Maybe it’s that Josh Gordon got pinched for drug use again or that Kevin Love got hurt.

You start to feel an array of disappointment and you’re thinking, “Why did I do this? Why did I rush in so quickly?” Times get tough and you think, “Pittsburgh is nearby; maybe I could experiment with becoming a Steelers fan.” But, we never do; we don’t cheat. We love our teams, win or lose, we made the commitment. Most importantly, we don’t care what you think. You, the haters, I’m talking to you.

Oh, did you think we didn’t know that we haven’t won a championship in decades? Please remind us again. Why do you think we’re so happy to even have been in the finals? Do you think that LeBron would have been as motivated or determined to help bring home a trophy for Cleveland if it weren’t for the pain he caused the fans after leaving? We are Cleveland. We made it Believeland by contributing a never ending, unnerving dedication to our city.

I mean, come on, we know the Browns have work to do. We didn’t like Johnny Manziel anymore than you did but it wasn’t our fault he was sent to Cleveland. So, stop blaming our city. Go ahead; bring on the hateful words like you’ve done all season. The championship game was rigged, right? The referees were totally in favor of Cleveland or LeBron James is our only hope. We don’t care. Whether we would have won or lost that final game seven, we wouldn’t have cared because to us, as individual fans who come together as family, we are the hope and there’s always next year.

I won’t lie, even with only 10.6 seconds left in the game I thought there was a way Cleveland would screw it up but when they didn’t, the whole city felt it. The love, joy and family the entire city of Cleveland showed each other through television screens, Twitter feeds and Snapchat stories takes the cake. Whether we won or lost, Cleveland would have felt it with the Cavaliers. The tears of joy ran down the youngest and oldest of fans, the church bells rang for our city and the fans woke up champions on that sunny, Monday morning.

We’re tired of hearing that you’re sorry to hear we’re from Cleveland. We’re not sorry. Have you seen the land? Have you experienced the life of downtown or Little Italy? I love hearing a faint “no” when I ask Cleveland haters those things. There is nothing like Northeast Ohio; nothing.

Head to the city, experience it for yourself and if you still hate it, well, shut up and keep it to yourself. For now, Cleveland doesn’t care what you think. We’re only preparing our minds for the Indians and Browns to have dominating seasons. If all that the Browns do this year is win a game or two, we’re happy campers. LeBron brought home a trophy and, finally, we slept peacefully as Cleveland fans.