Where I’m From

Where I’m From Poem

By Melinda Williams

Where I’m from…

I am from a shared womb

With a twin that I can always count on to have her eyes open during the dinner prayer, too

And a love of singing, even if she is the one with the true talent

 

I am from “Don’t end that sentence with a preposition!”

Encouragement to do the right thing

And a family of people who I’ve sworn never to be like-yet more and more I see a part of each of them inside of me (and love it)

 

I am from a cross hanging over my bed

The smell of trees and morning bible reading at church camp

A father’s love and mother’s comfort

Being read aloud to and sung to each night

The smell of crock pots with beans, all day long

A small town in Minnesota where tamale pie has nothing to with green chile or a corn husk

 

I am from being the first person in the family who isn’t a perfectionist

A shy girl who could only be loud and funny while safe at home

Slammed doors and a sister’s yelling

A family with tempers that sometimes are scary

A family with enough love to survive anything

 

I am from a ballet class, where I am a foot taller than every perfect, tiny girl

 

I am from a broken heart and a mystery since the age of fourteen

A childhood of classical music…always classical music

A grandpa who after 80 years of being 100% Norwegian, discovered German Jew in the family line. Who knew!?!?

 

I am from a family that one has to walk on eggshells to keep happy…sometimes

A place inside still trying to figure it out

The mistakes of a passionate teenager who thinks the new boyfriend is the future husband

A constant trust in God, and feeling lucky that it is there

The true love of a man, after not quite believing in it

A save haven of home

 

I am from a family where blindness means seeing more than anyone else