I’m from joy;
from a happy couple who couldn’t wait for us to exist;
first one, then two, then me.
The only girl among three.
Ever present music in our ever happy home.
Fighting is foreign and love is everywhere.
Dad wakes up before the stores open. I come downstairs to see him there with a smile and a hello love.
His soft british accent and strong coffee reminds me that I’m home.
Mom comes down the stairs in purple pajamas with a bright and tired smile on her face;
the boys follow in their boxers hours later.
I sit with my little puppy watching Morning Joe and drinking that strong coffee that I’ll miss when I am gone.
The school next door is where I fight for the future that I need,
Where the smell of sharpened pencils makes me grit my teeth
And all the while I think about that place that I call home
The people I love, who love me more, and just how lucky I am
The best night’s around the piano where we do what we all love,
They sing of how they fell in love while we dream of futures bright
Broadway, opera, jazz and scat we sing and laugh and cry
We say thank you thank you thank you every Sunday on the dot.
Where we sing and drum and hug and cry,
Perfect? No, that we are not.  Of course, nothing is.
But, happy? Yes, oh yes we are.
Small but mighty, thoughtful but loud, talented yet humble, different yet one.
Blessed.  Joyful.  Grateful beyond belief.
That is where I’m from.