About Me

I'm Carrie.

I am from handmade clothes, Winnie the Pooh decor,

Amish country and homemade sticky buns.

I am from the front line of eleven children,

moments of mothering when I should have been playing,

but loving that role anyway.

I am from a life of travel,

moving,

experiencing every side of the country

and stopping at every historical battleground.

I am from bedtime stories of Davy Crocket,

western movies,

Titanic songs and a night sky with flying saucers.

I am from burning hot desert family vacations,

riding in a rusty station wagon with green vinyl seats,

restlessly

sleeping six children in the back.

I am from swinging,

flying,

dreaming,

singing,

praying so so hard.

I am from long drives to church,

peanut butter cheese crackers

and homemade movies.

I am from nervous first days at school,

hoping to fit in again,

wishing

I had hit puberty two years later.

I am from where the winds come sweep'n down the plains,

magazine collages and Braum's ice cream.

I am from humid summer days with wind in my hair,

random photo shoots in fields with cows,

red hot cinnamon candies in the basement

with musty smells and thrift store finds.

I am from courage,

wit and sarcasm,

fear of failure,

and surprising strength in the midst of trials.

I am from sitting on my orange couch in the attic,

lilac candles and

watching Christmas lights year round.

I am from a world where dreaming is encouraged,

where art is what we mold from our hands,

where creativity is burnt into your soul.

I am from an orange knit hat,

green vest,

white collared shirt

and torn jeans with water bottle in hand.

Always.

I am from the belief that schools should spend more money on the arts instead of football,

that you should laugh only after a two hour cry,

and that high school doesn't really prepare you for college.

College is much easier,

so chill a bit my high school math teacher.

I am from sitting under trees and reading poetry,

writing letters

and listening to Bach.
I am from hippy clothes, dramatic journal entries and double stuffed oreos with milk in a jar.

I am from a romantic comedy beginning, a husband that laughs at my sarcastic jokes,
and likes me in spite of them.

I am from
the fear
and joy
of motherhood,
the pain of natural childbirth,
and the confidence that it all entails.

I am from the knowledge that I am from so much more,

that there is no beginning nor end,

that eternal love is felt when I look into the eyes of my child, and that every being on earth has a heart that is good.