Middle-aged Maverick

5Ws Wednesday—Where are you from?

In the comments, I really need you to tell me where you’re from and why. And I’m starting my post with what usually comes at the end, because I really want you to think about this. I have such a hard time when someone asks me where I’m from. Or, “are you from here?” I’ve…

In the comments, I really need you to tell me where you’re from and why. And I’m starting my post with what usually comes at the end, because I really want you to think about this. I have such a hard time when someone asks me where I’m from. Or, “are you from here?” I’ve lived in North Carolina since 1993, so, over 30 years. But I wouldn’t say I’m from here. My husband is because he’s lived here his whole life.

I was born in Ohio and lived there until I was almost 5. But am I from there? I don’t feel like I am. I have no memory of living there. I have vague snippets of images of what I think may have been the place where we lived. But is that actually a memory? Or am I thinking about pictures I’ve seen of that place?

My sister told me one time that I should “move back home”. Meaning I should move to Ohio where she and our oldest sister live. But that’s not my home. At all. Nothing about Ohio is familiar in a home kind of way. I’ve been there enough times to recognize the area where they live, but that’s not a home-like familiarity.

From the ages of 5-11, we lived in Georgia. And honestly, that feels like home. That’s where I spent my most formative years. Everything about life there has formed such deep core memories. Even now, with it being Christmas time, it’s our house in Georgia that I think of when reminiscing about holiday traditions. Most of the memories associated with my life there are good and happy. I honestly don’t even remember my father crashing out at me when we lived there. I don’t think any of that started until we moved to North Carolina.

North Carolina has been a seriously important piece of my life. In fact, it is my life now. This is my home. I finished growing up here and have settled into adulthood with my husband here. But I’m not from here. And I’m not from Ohio, though I guess, technically I am? I keep wanting to say I’m from Georgia, but I’m not.

I’ve had this conversation with parents of my students who were in the military. I’ve asked them where they are from originally. They have very simple answers. And most of them had plans to return to where they’re from when it’s time for retirement from the army. Where do their kids say they’re from though? Those military kids are some kind of resilient with all the moving they have to do as often as they do throughout their young lives. Many of them were born on military bases overseas. Where do they consider their home to be?

Just something I’ve wondered lately. So again I ask, where are you from? And what makes you say that? Is it where you were born? Or where you’ve lived the longest? Or where you were the happiest?

Want to help me accomplish my dream of being a paid writer? Buy me a coffee!

7 responses

  1. trE Avatar
    trE

    Ah, I had this conversation with my step-grandmother on her birthday on November 28, 2025. I’m originally from Savannah, Georgia, but I haven’t lived there since I was 18 years old.

    I spent 7 years in a small town about an hour away from Savannah, where I attended college, and then I moved to North Carolina after that. I’ve been in North Carolina longer than I’ve lived in Savannah, but not longer than I’ve lived in Georgia.

    When I think of home now, it’s North Carolina for me. When I visit Savannah, I always say, “I’m ready to go back home” and my family typically rebuts, “You are home.” And I’ll correct them and say, “No, this is where I am from, but it is no longer home.” And it isn’t.

    I spent a lot of my summers and a few winter breaks in New York with my mother and father’s family, so there’s that, too, but NY could never be home to me or where I’m from.

    So, I say, I’m originally from Savannah, Georgia, but North Carolina is home, and I feel that deeply in my bones. I may move to another city in NC as time presses forward, but I doubt I’ll ever leave the state.

    Reply
    1. cathymack62 Avatar
      cathymack62

      And that’s the thing! Big difference between where you’re from and what’s considered home. Thank you for sharing that! NC is definitely home for me, I think. It feels like it and I think that’s what it’s all about.

      Reply
      1. trE Avatar
        trE

        Yup. That’s definitely what it’s all about. And you’re welcome!

  2. traciesulpazo Avatar
    traciesulpazo

    Easiest answer is I was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Baltimore was living in South Jersey when I moved to Hawaii. (Lived a couple of other places here and there, but nothing significant)

    Even though I spent the majority of my life in Baltimore, I am forever a Philly Girl. Still have family there and it will always be connected to me…you can take the girl out of Philly, but you can’t take Philly out of the girl.

    Reply
    1. cathymack62 Avatar
      cathymack62

      Interesting! I’m seeing that the answer really is different for everybody. Do you consider Hawaii your true home now?

      Reply
      1. traciesulpazo Avatar
        traciesulpazo

        It’s home for sure because I am not going anywhere, but I can never be considered local since I wasn’t born here. I guess Hawaii is where I happily live life, but Philly is home.

      2. cathymack62 Avatar
        cathymack62

        Ah! Local is definitely a term I didn’t consider! I get it though!

Leave a Reply

The author

Middle-aged Maverick is indeed middle-aged and she’s proud of it. She has a tendency to over think and over analyze many of the things she encounters in her life, as evidenced in many of her posts. She knows how to drive a stick-shift car, prefers Coke over Pepsi, and spent many of her adolescent years being obsessed with Jim Carrey.

Related posts

Discover more from Middle-aged Maverick

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading