Skip to content

I do not come from DIY fireworks people. I come from “Did you hear about the little girl whose hand got blown off” people.

    When husband and I got engaged we went through pre-marital counseling for our different religions–mine Reform Judaism, his lapsed Christian/Religions Do Not Call List. Husband read many books on Reform Judaism so that he could give informed consent to a life full of Yom Kippurs, No Christmas, and Dayenu ear worms (Jewish music that you can’t stop hearing. In an assortment of minor keys!). Having already rejected the religion of his youth before we met, he closed his eyes and gave me carte blanche to force our children to go to Sunday School, Hebrew School, and sing 1960s era anti-war songs at Jewish summer camps. We prepared for this major difference in our religious upbringings, naive to the extent of the cultural chasm that our union would bridge.

    There’s a blog meme called Where I’m From (based on this, apparently) . A blog meme is not a jello salad made with candied fruit and whipped topping, nor a jaunty beret with a blond hairdo already attached, but a blog writing prompt.  Here is a beautiful example of this prompt, “Where I’m from.”

    And now I present

    “Where I’m From Is Not Where He Is From” 

    I’m from Mondale/Ferraro! and Ronald Reagan Halloween masks. He’s from “Election 1980: Get Rid of The Empty Shell” posters and autographed framed Phyllis Schlafly wall displays.

    I’m from The Weavers and Jaques Brel. He’s from The Carpenters and John Denver.

    I’m from chopped liver and cow tongue. He’s from chipped beef and sweet midgets.

    I’m from twice a year temple. He’s from all-day church Sundays.

    I’m from “What are we doing for Thanksgiving? It’s already July!” He’s from “Dad’s birthday was two weeks ago, we should send a card.”

    I’m from “Mopeds are the number one cause of brain injuries.” He’s from “Pile the babies on!”

    I’m from “Be Careful. God Forbid. Tsk.” He’s from “Eh. It’ll be fine. Shrug.”

    I’m from lazy Susan Chinese restaurants, artichokes, and watercress/cream cheese sandwiches on pumpernickel. He’s from Cracker Barrel, pork shoulder lasagna and marshmallow salads named Divinity.

    I’m from Gin and Tonics and crossword puzzles, Scrabble and Ben Shahn. He is from Nehi, Go Karts, and Lincoln sites.

    I’m from “Free To Be You and Me,” co-custody and unlimited screen time. He’s from Disneyland’s Mainstreet Electrical Parade soundtrack, Family Home Evenings, and absolutely not Three’s Company.

    I am from OhShitDammit and he is from WellMyStarsDoggoneIt. He is from ham salad, and I am from lox and bagels. I’m from Ballet. He’s from Bottle rockets.

    I am from beet horseradish. He is from Mayonnaise. And they work together, here where we are now.

    0 thoughts on “I do not come from DIY fireworks people. I come from “Did you hear about the little girl whose hand got blown off” people.”

    1. annie

      I love this! The best I’m From…. meme I’ve read. If we were all from the same place it would be terribly boring.

      I’m from sundays on the ski hill or camping and he’s from all day Sunday in a bible belt church….now we sleep in. It works 🙂

    2. Jill

      Are you sure we aren’t from the same family?

      It sounds quite similar … and despite my husband being a M.O.T., he’s far more similar to your husband’s upbringing than he is to mine.

      If it weren’t for the fact that he’s snipped and Bar Mitzvah’d, one may disagree that he’s Jewish… heavy on the ‘ish’.

    3. Varda

      Love this! Here in NYC we have many, many friends from the mixes. We even know 3 families that are 1/2 NY Jewish & 1/2 Swedish (from Sweden, not -American).

      My husband and I are both Jewish, but I often refer to us as a mixed marriage because his father was a cantor & they kept kosher while my parents were hippie/bohemian atheist/agnostic culture-only-but-no-religion Jews. Pretty much night & day upbringings.

      I come from the Beatles and Peter, Paul & Mary while he comes from Moishe Oysher and Sing Along with Mitch.

    4. gradydoctor

      I’m from Puleeeeeeeaze can i have a Barbie Dreamhouse for Christmas and he’s from alls I want is a snowblower. . . . . so I can earn some money to buy myself a lawnmower. . . . . so I can get me some school clothes that weren’t worn previously by my brother or a stranger. (All at age 9!)

      I’m from I need to narrow down this list of colleges and revise my essay, Dad and he’s from, “You got in what? Shiiit, I hope you got some college money!”

      Sure, I’m a black woman who is of Christian faith and fairly observant. But. Like you, I am totally “Free to be you and me.” Don’t make me prove it by singing “William Wants a Doll!”)

      Love this one, Ann. As always.

    6. Jack

      Hah Jill, your comment made me laugh as it sounds far too familiar. All MOT here too, but her family looked at me like I was the Satmar rebbe.

    10. Anna See

      This is awesomne! You captured so much in this post, and brought back memories, too. Shared w/ you: Free to be You and Me. Shared w/him: all-day church Sundays.

      And of course, NO FIREWORKS in my family…

    11. Becky

      Oh I could so do this for Matt and I. Loved this.

      and of course we are destined to be besties. I’m SO FROM “Free to Be You and Me”.

    12. Lynn MacDonald

      We have more in common than I knew. I’m a completely slack Jew and my husband isn’t. However, the service was in Hebrew so whenever he says he didn’t agree to that, I inform him he did…in HEBREW!!!

      Win

    15. the mama bird diaries

      This is brilliant. My kids scream that Dayenu song at the top of their lungs and I always say to my Jewish husband, “Why do they want this “Ayenu” character to die? It seems so violent.”

      We are still fighting about whether the girls will go to sleepover summer camp

    19. Kim

      Love this!!! Also, did not know your hubs used to be a Mormon. The FHE gave it away 😉 That and the all day church 😉

    23. dusty earth mother

      Oh, I absolutely love this. I think I might have to do a meme like this at some point. But it won’t be as good as “I’m from chopped liver and cow tongue. He’s from chipped beef and sweet midgets.” It took me a full minute to remember what a sweet midget was, and then I laughed out loud.

      On another note, only a month until I see you at BH! So excited! Doing the exclamation point thing again!

    24. Melissa at bubbyandbean.com

      This is amazing, and sounds incredibly similar to my fiance’s and my coexistence. (Except replace the Reform Judaism with an agnostic/1960s I-sleep-next-to-a-goat-on-a-commune blend from my upbringing).

      This especially could have been taken from any given moment in our time together – “I’m from ‘Be Careful. God Forbid. Tsk.’ He’s from ‘Eh. It’ll be fine. Shrug.'” I almost want to make tshirts for each of us with those exact quotes.

      Brilliant, as always.

      xo,
      Melissa

    26. Joanna Jenkins

      This is the first “I’m From” meme that I’ve ever read and I’ll never read another one again– This was fantastic!

      And it reminded me a lot of my husband and me.

      High five, jj

    27. The Flying Chalupa

      Holy shit, did you just do a meme? Classic. I can so relate to this. Ah, men and women. For the record, gimme an OhShitDammit and Gin & Tonic any day.

      But wait, I also grew up listening to the Carpenters. WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE ME?!