Where I am from

I am from art
From tattered notebook papers and dull pencils
I am from a garage filled with racing skis
From stories of speed and excitement
From the various slopes of mountains
From Bogus and from Brundage Mountain
I am from white tulips
From the originality flowing through the stems
Because they aren’t roses

I am from honor and overachievers
From the stories of a talented family
From musical geniuses to Valedictorians
From “Honor and integrity come first”
From “Work hard, play hard”

I am from the torments and teases of elementary school
From “Why do you even try?”
And “You look like my mother’s maid”
From the girl with no backbone
I am from the assumptions about me
From a doctor’s daughter to a snob
From the people who don’t know me

I am from a snow globe
From something that was broken years before
From someone who kept it anyways
I am from the distant memories of my grandpa
Who means more to me than most do now
I am from dolphins
From their song that I still listen to
And the memories that follow
From a playful swim with porpoises to a bashful kiss

I am from stubbornness
From similarities that lead to arguments
And the differences that bring us together
I am from a linage of Agnostics
From a Mennonite Mom
And a wait-and-see Dad

I am from a miracle
From an infertility procedure that everybody said would never work
From a hope that became a reality
I am from the unknown
From the scared, shy and confused
From the girl who grew a backbone
And that has redefined me