Sunday, November 6, 2011

where i'm from ...

i am from a teeny house with front railings that doubled as my noble steeds, from a child sized library full of golden books and saturday night taco bell followed by pirate ships at the park.

i am from the deliciously scented lilac trees abundantly painted in their hues of purples and whites and the ant covered peonies blooming in wild pink bunches across the backyard.  from the yellow butter loving of dandelions and the wisps of their seeds as we blew them into the wind.
i am from frequent "i love yous" and selective shyness, from alice and doris and kristi and so many other mamas that came before us and paved the way for us to be amazing at what we do.

i am from the wish to fade into the background of busy-ness and the desire to truly connect with my friends in quiet spaces and places.  i am from creative energy and color.  i am from connections and love and smiles.

from "i am proud of yous" and so many more "i love yous".  from hugs and kisses and powerful nonverbal communication that said so much more than words could simply say.  actions.
i am from here and there faith and the realization that faith and religion are a part of something so much larger and so much less defined.  less confined.  less.  and sometimes more.
i'm from norway and minnesota, lefse and grandma's chocolate chip cookies.  with milk of course.

from the kinda sorta hippy-ish parents that worked together at kentucky fried chicken when they were younger (my dad actually mixed the secret spice recipe once ... though he has no idea what was in it), the grandmother that molded the lives of so many children through teaching, and the grandmother that raised so many children with the family need for quiet aloneness in a house that was anything but. 
i am from pictures and frames bombarding the shelves.  from portraits and artwork adoring the walls.  i am from boxes and boxes of family memories.  and intricately cut out silhouettes of my sister and i hanging in my mama's bedroom to this day.

i am me.
and i am a part of all of this.
and it ... is a part of me.

... i wish i could remember where this came from.  it's been sitting in my posts to be finished pile for quite some time.  it called to me so i rambled out the answers rather quickly.  do you know where it came from originally? 

where are you from?

4 comments:

Pamela said...

Big love for this.

Tracy P. said...

Aw, I love this. I saw it here. She references two possible different sources. Now I really need to do it. I always love how amazing they turn out.

Raising Z and Lil C said...

just beautiful Jen :)

Kate said...

I did this same writing exercise last year, snagging it off a few different sources.

http://kateinthekitchen.com/2010/09/28/where-im-from/