Telling my Story: Where are you from?
So I said I was going to tell my story.
There are a lot of pieces to my story, different ways I could categorize my life. Hobbies I've had, achievements, failures, important trips, school years, events, friendships, and milestones. And really I don't have a plan laid out for the unraveling of my story, but I've decided a good place to start is answering a question I get asked a lot:
Where are you from?
I tend to have an identity crisis every time this simple question is asked because I don't feel that it is a simple question. So here we go:
I was born in Spokane, Washington. This is where my parents met and started their life together. Where I have memories of water front park and the giant wagon slide (probably memories based on pictures) and where I had my 2 year old birthday with a friend I ended up going to college with after all those years!
Soon later we moved to Kent, then Auburn, (still Washington). For those of you not from Washington, I moved from the East side of the state to the West side. So basically I'd tell you I live in Seattle now. Then my dad got the call to ministry and our now family of four moved to Dubuque, Iowa. Iowa was unique because we lived in one of two cold-a-sac called married student housing where the kids out numbered the adults. We would play outside and at each others homes until the sun went down. I thought I was so old and responsible as a 6-9yr old!
Daddy graduated and didn't have a church lined up yet so our now family of five drove cross country to Mercer Island, Washington (Seattle) to live with my mom's parents. I went to 4th grade for two months and then we moved to Muncie, Indiana.
Muncie was a HUGE chunk of life. We lived there 4th grade through freshmen year of high school and I'd say this is where I "grew up". My bestest friends are from here and major "forming of who Rachel is" events took place during this time. But while I was there I brought Seattle with, I was "the girl from Washington".
We left the summer between 9th and 10th grade and here is where life got messier. My now family of six moved back to Mercer Island, Washington into my grandparents house and started school. This supposed to be time of transition lasted SEVEN YEARS. We moved out of my grandparents house after a year and into an apartment and then a rental home. It didn't feel like we were there seven years because it was always transition, but we were there just as long as we lived in Muncie.
Summer before my senior year of college we moved to Indio, California (Palm Springs area). I've only lived there during winter break. While being in college, MI still feels like home.
So where am I from?
I am a Washington girl
I am an Iowa child
I am an Indiana teen (maybe you could even call me a Hoosier)
I am a California young adult
I am a mix of a lot of places. What I have learned is home is where the heart is, and my heart is all over the country. My heart is in the hands of a lot of different people in a lot of different places. Washington will always be my home base. In every moment of transition Washington was where we landed, its also the birth place of my family. But you can't take the mid-west out of this girl. Get me talking fast enough and that wide Indiana accent will come out along with some Hoosier charm!
How moving has affected my story:
I know that there are people who have moved more times then me, or more often then me. I know there are people that have never moved in their lives. The circumstances, the places, and the way I handled our moves have impacted the shaping of who I am.
I adapt well, I handle change, I get a long with different types of people, I understand different parts of American culture, I am not afraid to be myself.
Being the new kid does something to a person. I decided that I didn't want to blend in so I chose to be out going, sure of my self, a "go getter". When we were in a new place I tried to get super involved and make lots of friends. I can get a long with a lot of different types of people because let me tell you people from Muncie Indiana and Mercer Island Washington are VERY DIFFERENT. But I identify with both types of people.
Here is a sidebar....
Telling people I am from Mercer Island....is an insecurity. To people from the area there is a certain connotation when you say you are from Mercer Island.
Mercer Island is an island the shape of a foot located on Lake Washington connected to Seattle and Bellevue by I90 the 2nd longest floating bridge in the world. It is home to some of the top 10% in the country - and I am NOT part of that. It is a different lifestyle and different expectations. Where spending $100 on a babysitter plus $100 for dinner plus $20 for parking and $40 for a movie is just a normal Saturday night. Where the high schoolers are in band and sports and AP classes and go to church (sometimes) and party at their parents house on Friday night cause their parents would rather them do it under their roof then somewhere else (but like why not not at all). It is a place where the surrounding towns love to call us spoiled rich kids. Now let me tell you - not everyone on this island is like this (I am proof) and so are some of my friends. And most people are kind, not snooty. I think the best way to describe it is at school everyone was nice to me, at church people where friendly to our family, but we were never invited or included in things...we were not apart of the group. That is a HUGE part of my story, that I like to forget. I think that is why finding "my people" is so important to me. I have acquaintances, friends, really really good friends, and then I have my people.
HEAR ME: I had a great time on Mercer Island. I have great friends from Mercer Island. Great people, kind people, good people, generous people live on Mercer Island. The above was just part of my experience. Nothing I said was meant as a dig or as negatives. But the connotation that I am a "typical stereotype" of an Islander is not accurate so I get anxious explaining that I am from Mercer Island. I am PROUD to be an Islander. Once an Islander always an Islander - In another post I will share what life on MI was like and how it specifically affected my story.
**Also don't worry there will be more on how I am an Indiana girl too and how ALL those years affected my story
Back to our regularly scheduled program......
How moving has affected my story:
I hate transition - the in between moments of not knowing exactly what is next are super hard. I need some sort of structure, something that I can feel in control of. I am not afraid of being alone like a lot of the world is, I am afraid of being left. Maybe afraid isn't the right word, but I have lived most of my life being the one that leaves, whether it was my choice or not. But I haven't had to watch my friends move away or anything like that - so when people leave my life that is REALLY hard for me. I also like to try new things! I need routine, because it is something I can control, but after awhile, I get bored and need a re-vamp - I think this is also attributed to moving and exploring new things.
A huge part of my story is not knowing when or where we would be moving and once landing on MI I didn't know how long we would stay. I made the most of things, I got involved, I wanted to make an impact, and I wasn't afraid to be myself because I felt like I had nothing to lose. I learned to take care of myself and my siblings because my parents had many important adult things to take care of.
Let me remind you. I am telling my story to embrace my insecurities, embrace my past, embrace my future, and hopefully give you the courage to look at your life and tell YOUR story, all the while trying to figure out what it TRULY means to be 100% authentically, unapologetically, Rachel.
If even one person actually reads my post all the way through and feels a little less alone, a little more encouraged, a little more seen. Then it is worth the time and courage it takes for me to blab about my life.
Be you
Rachel
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