I Am From

I am from wiffle balls and bats, kool aid and powdered iced tea mix. I am from the large house that looks forlorn and lacking in basic upkeep, with faded, peeling white-ish asbestos shingles, with the fire engine red front steps. I am from the green yard with patches worn to dirt where home plate and the pitcher's mound are. Where the pussy willow bush is a great climbing tree. I am from the muppet show on primetime and Saturday afternoon horror theater, snuggled on the couch beside my dad so I could hide my eyes! From trips to the Pocono's once a summer when we knew that we would have some fun, we"d go as a whole family and she would not reign with as much terror. I am from Martha and Tim and Grandmom. Grandmom who let me have the last teeny sip of her beer, and always gave me a dollar. I am from people who hold no extended family close and who envy, judge and rival each other. From a man who went to war in Vietnam because his country needed him to and it was his duty. A woman who met this man and married him and moved across the country because she didn't want to be near her family. I am from a strongly Roman Catholic father, who insisted we receive sacraments, go to catholic school and believe the catholic doctrine. There was no room for questioning this religion. I am from an Irish man, and a german, dutch mother. We love lasagna and tacos with hand made shells that taste so much better than the store bought kind. I am from the Philadelphia suburbs where we hold dear our Irish heritage and really don't give a damn about the rest of it. Because we are Irish. And stubborn. I am from the car ride to Indiana with the station wagon seats folded out and 3 kids crammed into the back with sleeping bags and luggage. The Irish Uncles and my dad who would get drunk and go home to their mother and march through her house singing "Yellow Submarine", wearing lamp shades on their heads and continuing their march across the dining room table, much to my grandmother's delight. I am from a father who consistently said we could have one dog, and one cat - only, who helped me try to save baby squirrels and baby pigeons and hand made critter keepers for my newts and garter snakes and caterpillars, who also now has 4 cats at his house none of which were suposed to be living there. I am from old envelopes of developed 35mm film kept in a dusty box under a dusty bed. The box was rarely brought out, my mother would get mad. There were no family photos adorning the mantle or walls, no obvious pride as we turned from babies to toddler to school ages and graduates. Although there was a picture frame my mother bought at a yard sale because she really liked the frame, it really is a lovely frame, but she never removed the picture of the strangers.