Today is my birthday. Thirty one years ago in Oxfordshire,I was born to an American couple stationed at Upperheyford with the US Air Force on their second tour to England. I was a premature baby who got very sick, needed surgeries and the doctors did not think I would make it. I survived and continued moving and traveling around Europe with my family until I turned seventeen and we moved to the USA. They say things happen for a reason. While I cannot apply that logic to all facets of life (like death and loss), it fits in this regard. Due to being premature I did not have to choose which citizenship to keep when I turned eighteen. Had I been born even just a couple weeks later I would have had to choose America or England as my nationality. I have always been proud of the fact that I was born English and claimed certain British traits. I have even had an English accent twice in my life. Perhaps I would have chosen England. Today as a Third Culture Kid (TCK) I claim ownership to all the countries and cultures I have lived or spent a significant part of my life within growing up. I love being labeled a TCK because I do not have to be from a certain country nor sound or speak a certain way. I am a TCK.
I celebrate my 31st with my ex-pat family today at home in England so grateful of that fact. Thankful that we can live here together in a life we all enjoy so very much. To share it with my husband and sons who have never felt against the decision to live outside the US and share the love of travel. The biggest reason being that they love me so much. Unconditional of the fact that I may not think or act ‘American’ as others have judged me for in the US. To them I am perfect and I could not ask for a better family to love.
Photography © Miriam Pinkston 2013
