Photo Flashback: 1970

Michael always teases me about "being from" everywhere. You see, he's from New York. Was born in New York. Grew up in New York. Lives in New York. It's pretty straightforward (well, he moved to Miami for a bit, but don't all New Yorkers?). With me, well, I guess where I'm from depends on who else is in the room. You're from Detroit? So am I! I was born in Royal Oak and lived in Madison Heights until I was nearly 12 (pretty formative years).

You're from Phoenix? So am I! We moved to Mesa when I was 11 and I went to junior high, high school and college there (very formative years).

You're from Southern California? So am I! After college I crashed at a friend's apartment in Huntington Beach for awhile and then lived nearby for a year before moving to West Los Angeles. A bungalow in West Hollywood followed (naturally). My parents later lived down the coast in beautiful Carlsbad, so you couldn't as for a better place to call home.

You're from Washington? Well, Washington's my "other home"! Ever since I was a little boy my family would go to Washington (as evidenced in these photos from 1970). My mother lived in Takoma Park in the late 1950s and attended high school in nearby Silver Spring. She met and married my father in the DC area -- and her aunt and uncle lived in Silver Spring and later in Potomac. We used to visit Dorothy and Ernie quite a bit when I was a kid, going out to their little place at Rehoboth Beach in the summertime (before "the gays" took over!) and Dorothy is still living in the area. When I was in college in the '80s I interned on the Hill and immediately felt at home in DC -- so I moved there officially in 1993 and lived there for five years, as did both of my older brothers. Oldest brother Bill and his clan are still down there, as are a big group of my dearest friends (Ken, Jean, Kandy, Kristen), so whenever I can't be with my parents in Arizona for the holidays, DC is the other place I think of going to before remembering that I've been in New York for eight years now, so this is really home.

So next time somebody asks me where I'm "from" and I can't give 'em a straight answer, would someone please tell Michael to leave me alone. I'm not even sure anymore ...