The middle house on the top of the hill, 

with handprints beneath the basketball hoop and memories flowed with the wind 

of the beat up swing set out back. Cars drove with age on Cosgrove Drive and 25 cent lemonade stands, this is where I’m from. 

Saturday morning coffee and cake pop runs with dad, 

where customers turned into regulars. 

8:45pm custard cops paid with free scoops, packed within the green and pink duct tape wallet from the year of third grade, this is where I’m from. 

“How was your day?” asked at the dinner table and inviting the Lord to be our guest, where that one glass of milk was downed a day. 

Chicken noodle soup, chile, and tuna noodle casserole—the regulars that lasted a week. 

Mom said it saved a trip to the store, I say “same old, same old,” this is where I’m from. 

The chiver and rise of arm hair that appeared from opening the door to the arena, where wet and sweaty smelling equipment fueled the normal. 

Beat up diamonds and softball bats, with dirt beneath my fingernails that would get a centimeter too long.

“Unzip your bag”—the phrase that still remains the same, this is where I’m from. 

The corner house in the middle of the three road neighborhood, 

with the built in brick fireplace that sold it all. 

White kitchen cabinets and three car garages made River Reserve Drive feel like a dream, 

this is where I am. 

Saturday caffeine that turned into any day of the week pick me ups, 

the essential boost that gets me through an hour of studying. 

Cookie dough and chocolate—the combo that will never change, 

and the free scoops that still remain, this is where I am. 

Bones that built strong, and hands that still fold 

underneath the see-through glass table, as we thank God. 

Go to meals that will never leave, I learned to love even below the same old grunts and complaints, this is where I am. 

Five days a week of physical activity throughout the year, producing a smell that’s hard to forget. Balancing a days worth of assignments and stress, 

then to the arena and field that drains. But, as coach says, “It’s all a mental game.” 

Friendships built through every celebration that stand tall through every loss, this is where I am.