Where I am

Where I'm from is another story entirely.

I was born in Salt Lake City, one icy and cold night in December. My due date was Christmas day. When I was 10 days old (the minimum age to fly) my family and little me moved to Tokyo Japan, where we would proceed to live the next 8 years.

I remember so many beautiful things about Japan. But perhaps they are just beautiful because it was my childhood, and whether I was in France, Egypt, or Arkansas it would probably be just as beautiful. I got lost on trains with my sisters, learned to ride a bike with my dad - as he balanced his hands on the back of the handlebars, and cheered me on while I rode wildly down the empty Japan streets, and went to school with thousands of girls from hundreds of different countries who had different beliefs than I did, but we learned to love each other all the same.

When I was eight, my parents had enough of ex-pat living, and promptly moved to Alpine, Utah and built a house. This was home for years and years. This is where I met the best friends I have ever had, where I had my first kiss, where I really learned what it means to be a part of something bigger than myself. Where I attempted catching rattlesnakes with Lacey, and where Jess and I pretended to be ice-skaters for over a week in the basement, with roller-blades and thrift-store leotards. Where I graduated from high school, and where I crashed my car into mom's pine tree one late night with Melissa.

After high school graduation, I moved to Provo Utah, where I would attend BYU for the next 3 1/2 years. This is where I learned who I was. Where I walked so many cold mornings up the hill to class because I wanted to. Where I spent more time alone than I thought I ever would, and that time alone showed me that I can be alone and not be lonely. Where I was taught Whitman, and Morrison, and Italian. Where I learned to be myself, regardless of what others think.

For a brief time I lived in Connecticut - where Jess and I spent every waking moment together, and I felt so lucky to have been born into the same family as my best friend. This is also where I let go of the broken heart I was harboring, and learned to fall in love with someone so right for me.

For a brief time I lived in Hawaii - where I learned that being apart from people you love can strengthen you. And also where I learned that I can do hard things.

And this is where I am from, but not where I am. Right now, I am married to a kind boy who makes me smile when I want to be mad at him, and scrapes the ice that is slowly accumulating in the mornings on my car. I am living in a four-plex, and he goes to school and I go to work and the little time we have together consists of making pizza and playing cards and singing the Doo-Run song. And even though this is where I am, and I love where I am, I'll never forget where I am from.

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