I am from the notes on a music staff, the rhythms and keys that look so confusing, but once you’ve played them you realize that they are not so difficult after all.

I am from the sea, the crashing of waves against the rocks
I’m from the dock, swinging my feet above the water

I’m from the top shelf of my closet, filled with the junk I couldn’t bear to throw away
I am from the crawlspace under the stairs, the perfect place to tell ghost stories

I am from Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and the Hundred Acre Wood
I’m from sucking my thumb and the braces that resulted from it

I am from those annual family trips to Missouri, always fishing with my great- grandpa
I am from the afternoon when my great- grandma taught me to be handy with a needle and thread

I am from those summers spent on the water, the pruny fingers and the leftover sunburn fading away
I am from those winter months spent on the slopes, with the chapped lips and the heat warmers that always stopped working just as the blizzard started up

I am from the games of Candy Land with my family, always racing to see who would get the blue pawn
I am from the many rounds of Chutes and Ladders, always wanting to slide down the chutes, because they looked like so much fun

I am from my first bike, the Barbie streamers and training wheels
I’m from the school sandbox, with the toy dinosaurs and the plastic castles that never worked

I am from the hand-knit blankey squares, pink and blue and green and purple and yellow
I am from my giant stuffed purple Barney

I’m from the hated trips to the dentist my appointments always during lunch yet I couldn’t eat until an hour later
I am from the annual checkup with the doctor, the evil glint of the nurse who had to give me shots

I’m from the scar on my finger when my cat attacked me because I tried to push him off my chair
I am from the never-painted fingernails because they were always too short

I’m from the books I read, the ones I like to curl up with around the fire
I am from the food my mom makes,
prepared with love and care

I’m from the excitement of knowing something good is right around the corner
I am from the friends that give me the confidence that propels me though my day

I’m from those memories, the ones that make me smile as I go about my day
I am from the people that will stay with me forever

I am from those moments, those filled with laughter and joy
I am from those memories, the ones that weren’t captured on film but were captured in my heart