Home is Here?

When I get asked “Where are you from?” I never really know how to answer that question. If you ask me about where my family is from, where I was born, where I was raised, where I stay at. These all have different answers. To not complicate something that on the surface seems like a simple question, my  default answer has been: Well… I was born in Mexico but I was raised in Houston, TX. 

Where am I from? Which answer takes me home? What is home?

If home is a place where you feel welcomed, I don’t know if I can call the United States my home. If home is a place where you have a sense of belonging, I don’t know if I can call Mexico my home.

I listen to Juan Acuña and think of some “good old days” and tell my sister, “I want to go back”. Then questions flood in about what or where “back” is? Do I miss Northwest Houston? San Luis Potosi? Tamaulipas? Where am I from? Where does going back lead us to?

And we cry together...