My Hometown

Where are you from?

People answer this question differently. Some answer with wherever they live currently. Some answer with where they've lived the most, or where they spent their childhood. Some answer with where they were born, no matter how long ago they left, or how little time they spent there.

I am in the final group. When people ask where I am from, I say Boston, or Boston-area. This isn't a fabrication.

I was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We lived in Holbrook, MA first the first 5 years of my life, and then we moved to Colorado. I left for five years of college (North Dakota) and returned to Colorado for graduate school in 1994. I've been here in Fort Collins, CO ever since.

Summary:
Massachusetts: 5 years
Colorado: 30 years
North Dakota: 5 years

Others who have the same division of years would say, "I am from Colorado."

Facebook delineates between "hometown" and "currently lives in," and so do I.

I feel like I've a split personality:

• I am a Boston sports fan -- Bruins, Celtics, Patriots -- and my beloved Red Sox
• I was a Colorado fan for a time, but, curiously, most of that time was when I lived in North Dakota. (Once John Elway retired, I lost interest in the Broncos anyway.)
• I am a Colorado girl -- polite, nice to strangers, courteous (even when driving)
• I am a Boston family member -- my primary of interacting with family and close friends is often teasing and caustic. We show love through insults.
• I am a Colorado outdoorsy type -- I love our mountains and feel claustrophobic in Massachusetts. I miss seeing long distances and get sick of only seeing the tops of trees.
  
• I am a Boston Jew -- I never, ever make a trip to Boston without visiting the Jewish neighborhood of Brookline. The food, the shops and the feeling of belonging is soothing.
• I am a Colorado Jew -- I like our small community and the "frontier Judaism" we practice here. I like that our bar and bat mitzvah celebrations cost considerably less than our east cost friends'.
• I am a Boston culture fan. I cold move into the Boston Public Library, the Gardner Museum, the MFA, the MTA and a myriad other historical and architectural wonders.
  
• I feel Colorado -- casual, relaxed, rugged, adaptable.
• I feel Boston -- multi-cultural, urban, ocean-loving.
• I live in Colorado, and it is home.
• I visit Boston, and I feel at home there.

In the end, it's all about feeling a connection to people and a place. My family is deeply rooted in Boston. My mother hasn't lived in Boston in 35 years, but her accent remains strong. When we travel there we visit the same places again and again as if they were shrines. My cousins, family and life-long friends are Boston-bred as well. We celebrate the Patriots together and loft bombs at the Red Sox.

So I wear my Boston-ness with pride, in the form of Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots gear. I visit as often as I can, and I drop my "r"s occasionally just for fun. I crave Dunkin Donuts and Wise potato chips, and I carry hermits back with me in my suitcase. Every game watch is a shared experience with family and friends. Every bite evokes a memory, and every accented word reminds me or the myriad other accents I'll never hear again. It was their home, and it is mine.