What is America to you?

We’d been living overseas for the last few years, but often came back to Illinois for holidays and summer vacations. We soon decided to buy a house in a quiet Chicago suburb.

After a few days of unpacking and moving, my dad wandered across the street to introduce himself to our new neighbors.

”We exchanged names and maybe a few sentences, if that. When I left a few days later, I was handing over our house keys to him.”

Now, every time we’re back in our house, we can expect to see our mail sitting on the counter or our driveway freshly plowed of snow.