A Family Journey

My family is very widespread, and I don't mean my family that lives on an entire different continent. I mean I have many different roots within the US. On my mother's side, we have some that live in Ohio but the vast majority live in Texas.

My grandfather was in the military so, naturally him and my grandmother moved around quite a bit. But that was before my uncles or my mother was born. When they finally decided to settle down, they settled in Akron, OH. At the time they felt that it was a good, safe environment to raise a family. So my mom's immediate side of the family grew up in the suburbs of Akron. 

My dad, on the other hand, is a little bit more complicated . 

My little cousin, Alaina, having fun at Walmart.

For a little bit of family history, my dad was originally born in New York. Specifically on the upper east side of New York City. When he was about five or six, his family moved to Florida because, apparently, that was the logical thing to do.

However, things started going sour between Nonna and my grandpa Roberts, whom I have never met, which led to Nonna and my father to move to Ohio. Nonna remarried to the man I know as my grandfather. The rest is history, in a sense.

Today, my grandfather, or Nonno, lives in Sullivan, which is a small town about 30 minutes outside of Ashtabula. My aunt and her family live in South Carolina and my uncle lives in Florida.

When my parents got married, they lived in Cuyahoga Falls with my older brother, who was six at the time. After I was born was when they decided to move to Carrollton, following the tracks of my grandparents on my mother's side.

My parents stayed down here, for literally my whole life, because the small town provided a safe secure environment for my brother and I to grow up in.

No matter how far away some of my family is, I feel close to everyone because we know where our roots began and understand that they didn't grow apart. They just grew.

I feel it's important to know where you come from because it gives you a sense of belonging and an understanding of who you came to be.