{A Cape Cod sunset - Chapin Beach}
Where do I come from? Well this is a loaded question that, for my entire life, I've answered in many ways. I am still asked this on a regular basis, especially with being in a new city and meeting new people. I often try to oversimplify this question by giving one answer - about 87% of the time, that one answer leads to follow up questions that require clarification of my nomadic life.
Recently, my answer since moving to Rhode Island is "I'm from Massachusetts." An easy answer, one in which people usually want to know where in MA and then usually {with excitement} recall how they took a school field trip 40 years ago to the recreated 1800s village that occupies the town. When people assume I've lived there my entire life, I often feel the need to delve a little deeper into my life, and let them know that I did not, in fact, come from there. Perhaps it's the negative associations I had with the town during high school, or the fact that the only thing that makes the town feel like home is the fact that my parents are there and our house feels like home. But if I venture outside of our lovely family home, I usually feel uneasy - out of my comfort zone - and not at all like I belong there.
My other answer is that I am from Texas. I spent most of my childhood there - off and on for 10 years. Texas is the place where I did so much of my growing as a child. I lived there from 4 years old to 10 years old, and then again from 12 until I was 15. Two very different periods of growth and self-discovery, but both so important in shaping who you become. Texas felt like home. It was warm {if we are being literal, it was too damn hot} and filled with my dearest friends. When I tell people I'm from Texas, I get every response imaginable from "Do you ride horses?" to "How did you end up in New England?"
So I have my little elevator speech of where I'm from and how I came to be where I am. I can give a brief synapsis of my life in less than 30 seconds. Enough information to explain without going overboard. Of course, if you have any interest in hearing about my life, you'll find when I talk that I am passionate about the places that I love.
The interesting thing now, though, is that I feel like other places have taken over as my home. They are the places I feel most at ease, relaxed, and perfectly content. The Cape is one of those places. Perhaps because I have so many happy memories from there that span my entire lifetime rather than just a few years here and there. Maybe because that's where I can find my family all summer and on weekends in the spring and fall. Maybe because there's something about the salt water and smell of the ocean that bring unexplained comfort and relaxation. It's my happy place.
Im finding Rhode Island is becoming more and more like home. I've been here for a month and a half, and my little apartment is slowly coming together. I've been enjoying cooking {if you know me, this is shocking} and decorating and making my little space into my home. I have a feeling when I'm leaving next July, this place will be another home to adore.
