CHORUS
I am from Covington Kentucky.
I am from a big town.

PAULINE
I am the one who has lived in Covington or Newport all my life. I
have wandered from one foster home to another, waiting for the
time when I would turn 18 and I could return to the only home I
have ever known.

ANNA
I am from Covington but sometimes I feel like I am from
somewhere else. Sometimes I sit on my back porch and daydream
about all the places I have been in Kentucky.

ANDREA
I grew up where there were as many cousins as there were hills. I
was close to my grandma. She had so much patience with us kids.
I loved to go berry picking with my Mom Crouch. That's what I
called my grandma.

OLD WOMAN
You can do whatever you put your mind to.

CHILD ONE
I have what I want. I have a dog, a Vietnamese pig and a hamster

CHILD TWO:
I want money and a playground. I don't want guns in the world
and I don't want to be poor.

CHILD THREE:
I have a big backyard and I don't have to walk far to school. I can have as many animals as I want. I like the color of my house and I
Like my street.

OLD WOMAN
You were born a day late and a dollar short.

CHORUS
I am from a big hearted family.
I am from a family of six.
I am from ad dysfunctional family.

ANDREA:
At one time I lived on a tree lined street in a suburb of Lexington. In the back yard was a willow tree that my father trimmed to look like my bangs. In the front of the house there was a tree. In the top of the tree was my secret place.

PAULINE
I was born in Campton, Kentucky in 1969. My father's name is Willis. My mother's name was Ilene. I don't know what my father looked like then or now. My mother gave me up for adoption when I was a week old. She died an alcoholic, As far as I know, my father is still alive.

ANNA
As a small child my mom would always point out a small two story house in Latonia and say, "This was your first home." I can't remember being there but from her smile I know it was a happy place for her.

CHILD ONE
I want 14 karat gold house. My father built our house. I just wish we didn't live on the east side.

CHILD TWO
My house is the only white house on our block and we have a garden. We have nice neighbors except the one who won't let us ride our bikes on the sidewalk.

CHORUS
I am from a mother with red hair and green eyes.
I am from a beautiful place.
I am from the west side of Robbins.

OLD WOMAN
Wherever you live - glorify it.

ANDREA
My mother canned a lot in the summer so we would have fresh food in the winter time. She was a great cook. She made chocolate pie for my birthday.

ANNA
Every holiday that rolls around my mother makes sugar cookies with icing on them. Now that Mom has grandkids she must make hundreds of them. This is the first year that mother hasn't made sugar cookies for Easter. Her hands can't do the mixing and rolling like she used to do.

PAULINE
My mom makes the best potato salad. Sometimes she does her bell peppers just right. I love stuffed peppers. I get stuck with washing the dishes. Mom usually goes to the living room and watches television with my dad while I clean off the table. Every holiday Mom and I take turns buying the meat. If I buy turkey for Thanksgiving she gets a ham for Christmas. We do this every holiday.

CHORUS
I am from a big hearted family.
I am from a grandmother who traveled with the circus.
I am from poor people but proud people.

CHILD ONE
I hate school. I like my teacher but I don't like school because it is boring. School is not cool because you have to write all day and take tests on Thursdays & Fridays.

CHILD TWO
I want a million dollars and I want peace in the world. I don't
want to grow up and be poor. I don't want drugs.

CHILD THREE
The best thing about my neighborhood is that I live by my cousins, aunt, uncle, grandma, brothers and sisters. Sometimes there are people who like to start things and try to beat up on people. Like the other day this guy came up to my brother and pulled a knife on
him.

OLD WOMAN
Just remember kids, what ever you do will come back to you ten
times over.

CHORUS
I am from Owenton and Grant County.
I am from a small city.
I am from a field of wild flowers of exploding colors.

PAULINE
I was close to nobody when I was growing up. I remember going to different foster homes all in northern Kentucky and never far from Covington or Newport.

ANNA
I remember a big snow storm. Our street was covered in a blanket of snow. We made snow angels, built forts and went sledding. It was a happiest time of my life. When my mother and dad divorced, it felt like all the good times ended.
ANDREA
You are strong and beautiful.

CHORUS
I am from meadows of green.
I am from a rough childhood.
I am from a home of love that I made.

ANNA
I recall a time that we lived in Elsmere. I guess I was 5 or so. There was a fenced in yard and a field beyond that. My mom would sit with me and my brother and sisters on a glider swing and Sing "Old Suzanna."

ANDREA
One day I got very sick at school. Mom and Dad came and got me in the car. I couldn't breathe real good. I half sat half lay in the back seat. Mom and Dad talked quietly in the front seat. I heard the worry and love in their voices.

PAULINE
I know I look like my real Mom. When I picture her she has glasses. I have the same features…the same color eyes. I would love to have my arms around her now. I would hug her. She would feel like a soft teddy bear. She would hug me back. I know she would. She would never let me go.

OLD WOMAN
Hold your head up girl!

CHORUS
I am from a mother I never knew.
I am from where tobacco sticks became horses when we played
cowboys and Indians.
I am from a place where you had to sneak away to find peace and
quiet.

CHILD ONE
One day me and my mom played basketball, football, and baseball all in one day. We even went swimming and threw rocks at birds.

CHILD TWO
There is a lot of violence where I live. The police come to our
Street. It is noisy and my neighbors are loud. I live on the west side.

OLD WOMAN
God will make a way for you.

ANDREA
Mom…Sometimes I sit and look at my son, Sean, and think of all the things that he is missing because he doesn't have you in his life. No grandmother to love and spoil him like you did all the other grandchildren. No one to tell him the stories of when you were a kid or stories about me when I was growing up. No visiting grandparents or great grandparents in the country. No hugs or that safe feeling that we got when we curled up in your lap, you rubbing our head or stomach and telling us, "It'll be alright,"
You knew how to welcome everyone into our home and to feed them and treat them like family..I wish that Sean could taste your biscuits and gravy now. I show pictures of you but that doesn't let him feel you. He would have loved to follow you around as you planted your flowers and heard you sing an old hymn as you rocked him to sleep.
You always said, "Family is the most important part of living, so cherish them while you have them for some day they will be gone." I love and miss you Mom.

OLD WOMAN
You always were the prettiest thing.

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