where I'm from

Thanks to Metta at 365 Days: 30+ Mommyhood (another 30 year old first time mom!) for setting up this blog hop! Here's my take on “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon.

I am from coffee cups,
from Kleenex, two-liters and Rock Band drums.
I am from a half acre of suburbia
dog hair and the smell of fresh cut grass.

I am from the weeds in the gravel driveway
the climbing tree in Papa & Gramma’s backyard, cut down in old age
whose long gone limbs remember
as if they were my own.

I’m from Hohn thumb and the fifteen-cent game
from Mary Arndt and Great-Grandma on the Mountain.
I’m from proudly crafted sarcasm and the ya-ya sisterhood
and from friendships made at Friendly’s.

I’m from “nutso-crazy” and “put your foot down, Papa!”
       “Can I spend the night?”
I’m from every other weekend, plus alternating holidays,
from the six of us.
I’m from General Hospital, The Farming Game, Yes & Know invisible ink,
       Are You Afraid of the Dark?
from the Lorain County fair, sidewalk chalk art and Pat Benatar.

I’m from Cleveland and Germany and Spring City, Tennessee
from banana pudding and the perfect potato salad.
From a young country couple who went to Georgia to get married.
       The man who left his young family to find work
       and taught himself everything he needed to know;
       his wife who remembers the date and every detail of every event.
He would have been happy to stay home, but dutifully went everywhere
she wanted to go
I’m from the countless photos, obituaries, and newspaper mentions
       cataloged religiously and kept in the sewing room.
I’m from “I have my whole life to be with this man I love!”
from family and friends, here and gone, then and now, loved and lost.

I’m from replacing bad memories with newer better versions
from learning as you go
from Nick’s hugs and Oliver’s smiles
making the best of the time I have surrounded by the ones I love.