Home Is Where I Hang My Heart

When someone new asks me where I am from, I hesitate.  I don't really feel like I'm "from" a particular location.  My answer depends who is asking and how much time I have.

My Dad being career Marine and Bob career Navy I've moved quite a bit.   My locations from birth:

Danville, VA
Jacksonville, NC
Buford, SC
Charlottesville, VA (1st grade)
Jacksonville, NC (2nd grade)
Sandusky, OH  (3rd grade)
Manchester, MD (4th grade)
Oceanside, CA  (5th grade)
Manchester, MD  (6th-12th grades)
Norfolk, VA
Patuxent River, MD
Pensacola, FL
Carrollton, VA
Pensacola, FL

I was born in Danville, VA, but have no memories of it since we left before I was 2 so it seems odd to say I'm "from" there.  My parents were both from Carroll County Maryland so that is my usual response when trying to explain my origins.  I always seem to throw in that Carroll County borders Pennsylvania and that the majority of my relatives live in either MD or PA.

I've always considered myself a "southern" gal, having lived in the south until 3rd grade when we moved to Ohio.  My school promptly placed me in speech class because I "talked funny".  Bob calls me a Yankee because my family is from Maryland, regardless of how many times I explain Maryland is BELOW the Mason-Dixon line.  I remind him I was born in Virginia, but since he's from South Carolina, even Virginia is "north" to him.

I feel so very blessed to have seen so much of the U.S. and met so many different people.  I cherish the friendships I've made along the way and love reconnecting with them through Facebook.  I'm thankful my Mother always made sure we had a "home" wherever we were stationed.  Even though Dad was transferred every year, Mom unpacked every box, hung every picture, made every house a home for us.  We may not have been "from" there, but I always felt at home.  I continued that tradition with my family.  We did not have to move every year, but when we did move I made sure to set up our home quickly.  

I've lived in Pensacola, FL (27 years) longer than anywhere, almost half my life.  When Bob first received orders in 1987, I had never heard of Pensacola, but I had been to Fort Meyers as a child and remembered I loved everything I had seen there - lots of hot sunshine, palm trees, alligators, oranges you picked in your backyard!  Bob was sent to C-School so just Heather (not yet 2) and I drove from Norfolk, VA to find our new home.  As I turned off of Interstate 10 and headed to the Navy Lodge aboard NAS Pensacola, our new location didn't look like the Florida I remembered.  If you're not familiar with Pensacola, we're as far west as you can be without being in Alabama.  Locals fondly refer to Pensacola as "LA", Lower-Alabama!

Even though Pensacola didn't look exactly like the Florida I knew, I fell in love.  When Bob retired we could have moved anywhere, but Pensacola was home.  Bob said I had followed him wherever he went and now it was my turn, and I chose to stay.  I have lived here long enough that I usually see someone I know everywhere I go.  That's a novel feeling for a quasi-nomad and I love it.

I may have trouble explaining where I'm from, but I always know when I'm home.