I’m from visiting my grandmother’s house,
eating her chocolate Band-Aids,
and freshly picked apples on the creaky wooden swing set,
and speeding down the road on my tricycle.

I’m from my mother chasing after me,
solving life's problems with “Hakuna Matata,”
and screaming “UNCLE BOZO” on holidays when I see my mother's balding brother,
and Grandpas Tom and Dwane and Grandmas Joan and Wilma.

I am from Disney movie quotes on the walls,
selling paintings,
and homemade drawings hanging in the open spaces,
and shelves covered with the fluffy animals children once played with.

I am from movie nights as my family squeezed six people on a couch made for three,
friends calling me ”Gene” and my mother calling me her “Gena-bunny,”
and researching in my bedroom,
fixing old wooden cabinets around the house.

I am from reading the series, Michael Vey,
painting the night sky, while singing along to Imagine Dragons,
and jumping into the cool lake water on a humid summer's day,
and my hair reflecting gold when the sun shines.

I am from Sundays as a child spent at church,
climbing the trees as my parents picked apples,
and the excitement of school and friends,
and figuring out who I want to become.