It's Knowing Where You're From

NPR's All Things Considered ran a lovely commentary by Laura Lorson about The Kentucy Derby. She's a native Louisvillan and talked about what the Derby means to her. It ended with, "It's about knowing where you're from."

Do you know how many pieces/stories end this way?

The template looks something like this:

a) Introduce significant historical event or place
b) Sprinkle memorable details of its quirkiness/uniqueness
c) Describe impact of such event/place on your life/development
d) End with, "It's about knowing where you're from/who you are/your place in the world.

In no way am I picking on Lorson's commentary or criticizing it as formulaic. I greatly enjoyed it. Just pointing out the very basic human desire for connectedness to a sense of place, a people. That we are part of a tribe, a culture. That in our blood we wear funny hats during a Spring ritual of horse racing or, mmmm, still crave Menudo on Sunday mornings even if we know it's filled with tripe.

We just want to know where we come from, folks.

It's that simple.

We just want what you (the non-adopted) have.