I am from climbing trees and scraped knees,
from “privacy is a privilege” and tomboy kingdom.
I am from a town of eight-hundred people.
My family tree spread half of them,
we had to cross-check my love interests – just to be safe.
I am from a home where bottled Busch Light was luxury
and Jim Beam was high class.
From great-grandma’s banana bread and a lousy stepfather.
I’m accustomed to sixty-hour work weeks and callused hands.
Tired calves from bicycles and twenty bucks to mow the lawn.
I am from humble, never struggle but never boast.
I am from diabetes but add more sugar.
From parental grandparents and ghost in the graveyard.
From a mostly single mother and a revolving door of dads.
Bookshelves stocked full, Nikes on my feet –
If I was wearing shoes. Oldest sibling, built-in nanny.
From a long line of gingers and two younger sisters.
Eerily enough, they’re repeating my story.
So, I fill the dad shoes I never had filled.
I still wear Nikes, but I wear New Balances, too.
Kendyl Cunningham is a third-year undergraduate student studying Marketing and Writing Intensive English. This piece is based on her family and her life growing up. Kendyl used it as a moment of reflection for her roots and her wonderful family, while also paying homage to the role she currently plays for her family.
Victory Hug. Temple University, http://digital.library.temple.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15037coll3/id/33555