There is no place like home. There is no place like home.

My niece, Heather, sent around one of those "getting to know you" questionnaires the other day. You know the one.

Where are the last four places you have lived?
Where are the last four places you've worked?
If you could be anywhere, where would you be?
What have you traveled?

When I answered the question about where you have lived, all four of my answers involved places in Colorado. I've never lived any place else. I'm one of those Colorado natives.

I was born at Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs because my father was in the army. By the time I was three we were living in a house in Hoffman Heights in Aurora since my dad had by then been assigned to Fitzsimmons. I actually remember when both Fitzsimmons and Lowry were military bases and Chambers Road was dirt. Since then, the only other city I have lived in is Denver.

My two sisters have moved away for a time with my younger one, Wendy, finally coming home and living in Arvada. She still owns the house we grew up in. My older sister, Mary, is in Flagstaff, Arizona, but I think her heart is calling her home. I won't be surprised to see her and the rest of her family back here in the next few years.

When I looked at the area I've lived in since I was a toddler, it surprised me that I've never lived outside of about a twenty mile radius. At first I was a little shocked and thought about how I probably have missed some grand adventures by not leaving Colorado and the Denver metro area in particular. Then I realized, when you are where you belong, there is no reason to move. My adventures come when I travel. I've been to Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Austria, Ireland and lots of great states in this country. As a matter of fact, my 50th birthday is just a little over a year away and I'm planning to be on a cruise to Antarctica (funding permitting) when I blow out my candles. But after all the wonderful experiences and fabulous people, I always am excited to come home.

I'm a Colorado girl through and through. I'm lucky enough to have been born in one of the most beautiful and amazing states in our country. For those of you who have been reborn in Colorado, you know exactly what I mean. You may have begun life elsewhere, but Colorado beckoned and here you are.

So I was born here and plan, many years from now, to die here. I'm already in my paradise. There is no where I'd rather be. After all, there is no place like home.