Aimee Seiff Christian

Where I’m From #5By Aimee Seiff ChristianInspired by George Ella LyonI believed I was from nowhere.I knew I had to be from somewhereYet I didn’t believe that until I had proof becauseI didn’t know you could be from nowhere and somewhere at the same timeI am also of somewhere. Someone.I am from subways and sidewalksFrom the city that never sleeps.Gritty, overcrowded, noisyAnd wonderful.I am from pigeons and sparrowsEating from garbage cans and twittering on telephone wire.I am from bagels and matzoh brei and my mother’s handmade menorahFrom no and because I said soAnd you have to learn to play by yourself.I’m from an innate understanding that I didn’t belongAnd the explicit instruction not to ask questions.I’m from New York JewsWho were as Jewish as The New York Times and maybe Rosh HashanahBut not fasting on Yom Kippur or keeping kosher or actually believing in G-d.I’m 99.9% Northern European, only 26% of which, as it turns out,Is Ashkenazi Jew after allTimes or no Times.But it still counts and I am still Jewish.I am a New Yorker through and through, city born and bredBut if I admit I learned I was actually born on Long Island does it still count?I am an only childBut if I admit I learned I have four siblings,Though all of them are halfAnd none of them talks to me except for one,Does it still count?I am born of a teenager and immediately abandonedAgainst her willAnd mine,Only to be placed six months laterIn the arms of a woman twice her age, withNothing but blank space where her heart and her womb were supposed to beWhere a baby did not grow.She is my mother.(I am not from there.)But over the years, we have become of one anotherI love my motherAnd I know now that she loves me too.I am not from herBut I exist nearby herFrom somewhere elseFrom someone elseBut we are closer nowCloser than I ever thought possible.I am from learning and growth.Where to find Aimee:Website: https://www.aimeechristian.net/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewriteaimeeSubstack: https://aimeechristian.substack.com/Where to find Alyson:Website: https://www.alysonshelton.comSubstack: https://whereimfrom.substack.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byalysonshelton/