I Am From

I am from board games

From Value Village and Welch’s Strawberry Soda and Planter’s Cheese Balls

I am from the pages of Good Housekeeping:

Pristine, company-ready, warm from the fire

I am from heart-shaped rocks, gathered from the shores of Lake Superior

I’m from matching outfits and anxiety

From Wally and Sigrid

I’m from the lefties and diabetics and performers and generations of dog-lovers

From “Sit in your chair!” and “It’s someone else’s turn to talk”

I’m from Lutherans, the McConnell family singers

I’m from suburban Minneapolis and the land of tartans,

Potato dumplings, lefse, and plenty of Christmas cookies

From the garbage can full of empty liquor bottles and beer cans,

The gender stereotype-crushing grandmother,

The aunt who kicked cancer’s ass, the grandfather with nine lives

The brains riddled with Alzheimer’s disease, addiction, and mental illness

Organized impeccably in digital storage are photos of family members present and past;

each photo complete with stories and memories of tenacious survivors.

This is where I’m from.

I wrote this poem in the spring of 2018, modeled after George Ella Lyon’s poem. I recently found it, and wanted to share it here.