Once You Go Minnesotan...

I've heard it said that something like 70 percent of people who move away from Minnesota move back. My parents are no exception. When they met, my dad was already in the military. My mom probably knew she would be moving around for a while when she married my dad. They did move a lot. Illinois, Virginia, California, Washington, New York...I'm sure there are places I've missed. I was born in California and by the time I came along we had only 3 moves left.

Only one of the moves really affected me. I was really too young to care or understand that we were leaving these places, never to return. I have vague memories of Washington. I was 2-4 years old when we lived there. When I realize that I do have a few memories of that time it scares me just a little because that means my kids will remember, perhaps, some of my less-stellar moments.

When we left New York I was sad. I was leaving the people I knew, going someplace (although we visited) new.

But we returned to Minnesota. My parents are from Minnesota. It was a coming home. At first, Minnesota felt wrong to me. I loved being with my grandparents but I felt out of place. Even Duck, Duck, Goose had morphed into Duck, Duck, Grey Duck which made no sense to me. I was a kid though so the transition was probably much easier on me than the rest of my family. I was picked on for my strange accent...but I sort of knew that the picking was a sign the kids liked me.

I always thought that I would move away from Minnesota. I was certain of it. I didn't. Minnesota is my home. And apparently the pull of Minnesota is strong.