I am from...

I am from always-white freshly painted walls,
From Bounce dryer sheets and Mop-n-Glow.
I am from green variegated shag carpet,
Holly Hobby quilt that matched my sister’s,
And the cuckoo bird,
hidden beneath the branches in the woods nearby.
I am from the poppy, goldenrod,
The edelweiss, and the saguaro cactus blossom…
Each caressing my heart; each plucking my memory.
I am from reading the Christmas Story and Irish tempers.
From Jim & Deborah;
Mealey and DuBose
I am from the self-reliant and the quick-to-serve.
I am from Family Home Evenings, and prayers,
Where love and testimony were etched on my mind forever.
I am from California, from Ireland, from France and Germany…
From Green Goop and Black Forest Cake.
From the Job’s Daughters queen, and the star of the football team.
Square dancers with treats and love, and giggles late into the night.
I am from beautiful scrapbooks, lovingly put together with my mother’s hands,
chronicling childhood, teen-hood, and adulthood.
And from weathered shoeboxes, overflowing with deliciously worn pictures,
caressed by my grandmother while lost in the telling …
Of those who’ve gone before.
This is where I am from.