Some people are defined by where they are “from” or where they live. . . Me? I feel like I’m all over the place!
I was born in southern Illinois, where I lived till I was two. We moved to New Jersey, right across the bay from Staten Island, NY, and lived there for 10 years (well, except for 5 months in Lafayette, Indiana, near Purdue University; and 3 months in Mesquite, a suburb of Dallas, Texas). In junior high and high school I lived in Indiana: Winona Lake, near Grace College; Claypool; and on 10 acres a few miles outside of Warsaw. I went to college in South Carolina, where I lived from ’94 – ’07, before moving back to the Northeast with my husband, where we now live in the innercity.
My parents’ backgrounds play into this as well: My mom grew up mostly in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but moved a lot, as her father was in the oil business, and lived in Denver, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. On the other hand, my dad spent his first 17 years on a dairy farm outside a small southern Illinois town (still less than 2,000 people, still without a McDonalds in the county!).
So when people ask where I’m from . . . ? I’m still working on the answer to that one.
If I’m traveling internationally, that’s easy: The States! That’s all I have to say. No further explanation needed. At that point, they assume I’m from New York or Hollywood.
But in the states, it’s a little trickier. My favorite way to respond is to turn the question around: “Where are you from? . . . Oh, me too!” And it’s true! Probably I was born there, or went to college there, or my grandma lives there, or maybe I live there now!
I kind of like it, being from the States.
🙂