Saturday Morning Post: From Where We Were to Where We Are

I have said, that for me "where are you from" can be one of the most complicated questions for me to answer.  I was born in Michigan, in a place few people have heard of, slightly beyond the bounds of civilization.  On a funny farm, that my father and grandfather ran. 

When I was in the first grade, my family lived in Phoenix Arizona for a few months, some of my earliest vivid memories are from Phoenix.  When I visit there it feels like home. 

When I was in the 8th grade my family started spending winters in Florida, the first winter on the Gulf coast, after that the east coast near the space center.  Those winters in Florida changed my life, changed me as a person.  I discovered that there is a big world outside of the 80 acres I grew up on.  I discovered adventures, and opportunities that are only available outside my comfort zone. 

When I finished high school the economy in Michigan was in shambles, there were signs up saying, "would the last person to leave Michigan please remember to turn off the lights."  My parents had already bought the house they would retire to and die in, in Florida, and that fall I wrapped up, left Michigan, flicking that light switch on my way out.  

Within a couple of years, I realized I had left Michigan for good.  I had no desire to return, and actually developed a deep dislike of the place.  Having seen the bigger world, I realized how limiting the isolation of the farm was.  

After a couple of years, I ran into a friend at McDonalds one morning, who introduced me to a friend, who referred me to a friend, who offered me my first real job outside of my family, and I moved to Orlando for opportunities.  I lived there for 15 years. 

Then my Sweet Bear was offered an opportunity, and I was ready for change, so we were off to Lexington, Kentucky.  Graduate school followed, and a decade of work.  

Then opportunity and adventures lured me to the Washington DC area. I wanted to live in the DC area, and looked for the job that made that possible.  

I loathe the place I was born and raised,  Phoenix where we only lived for a few months feels more like home. Florida was home for nearly 20 years, until it wasn't.  Kentucky was a place of opportunities, but not a place either of us ever wanted to live.  It served us well, we wouldn't be where we are today without the opportunities, but it was never home, never where we were from.  

After 14 years living in northern Virginia and working in Washington DC, I still get lost two miles from home.  It is home, but does it feel like where I am from? It feels like where I am.  

You see, the answer to where am I from is more complicated than where I am.   

Where are you from?