When I became a Minnesotan

 I got my Minnesota Driver’s License in 1999 – just after I graduated from St. Cloud State University.

I married a Minnesotan in 2000, but I wasn’t one myself. My “con” in Wisconsin hadn’t shortened enough. The “o” in my Minnesota hadn’t gotten long enough. 

No. I knew without a doubt that I was a Minnesotan on August 1, 2007. When the 35W Bridge collapsed, I knew Minnesota was my home because I hurt. 

There’s an ache in your heart when someone (or something) injures your home. I felt that ache for the first time that I can remember on that day.

 I felt the terror that my brother-in-law (my kids beloved uncle) might have been on the bridge. I sent the emails to my girlfriends in the Twin Cities that I struggled to write. I mean, you can’t say “Are you ok?,” directly.  

I got the email from my girlfriend in New York City (the former Assistant Deputy Director in charge of World Trade Center Cases for the Medical Examiner’s Office of NYC) that read “Are you ok?” 

I wish I was. Something had happened to my home.