You're from Portland.

By the time you read this, you'll have heard all the stories. About how I was born in Japan, but grew up mostly in Florida. How your mother was born and raised in Nova Scotia. And how my mother grew up in Houston and my father grew up in New York.

I think of myself as being from Florida. Which is strange for a couple of reasons. I wasn't born there. And I've spent more than twice as much time not living there as I ever did living there.

Still, it's where I grew up, and that's what makes it where I'm from.

The realization I had about you is that you're from Oregon. I'm sure that seems normal to you, but I didn't move to Oregon until I was well into my 40s. Before that, I'd only been here maybe five times. And yet, this is where you're from.

Your mother's not from Oregon. And my parents weren't from the place that I'm from.

And that's the neat thing. How you can be from a place that your own parents think of as new to them.

In some ways I envy you. You get to grow up in a place we chose for all the things that we hope will make it a good place to be a kid--good neighbors, a conscientious populace, seasons, a reasonably cosmopolitan city without the congestion, traffic, and stress of a big city. The down side is that you won't have any idea how good you have it. In fact, I think it's probably inevitable that you'll want to move away, to experience life in the big city.

I can't tell you not to. I did. I moved to New York when I was 22 and LA when I was 24. Your mother left Nova Scotia for Hollywood when she was 26. And your grandmother left Texas for New York. All I can say is that I hope you get New York or LA or wherever you decide to go out of your system and eventually find your way to whatever becomes your home. Selfishly, I hope that's Portland, but that's only because I'd love to have you close.

There's a saying I heard once: "Everyone should live in New York, but leave before they get hard. And everyone should live in LA, but leave before they get soft."

It's not true for everyone, but it works for me.

My parents weren't from Florida, either.