“So, where are you from?”

I get asked that quite often. Sometimes I answer that it depends on what you mean by “from.” Do you mean where did I come from when I moved to Blue Earth? The answer is Tyler. If you mean, where was I born and grew up, the answer is San Diego, California. My wife, Pam, was born in Altus, Oklahoma, but grew up in Minnesota.

If I am traveling to other states or elsewhere in Minnesota, and someone asks me where I am from, the answer is always Blue Earth, because they want to know where I live now.

I made the same mistake when I interviewed UHD CEO Rick Ash last week for the article on page 2 of this issue and I asked him where he was from.

He gave me a similar answer to what I usually say. He said he was born in California, but he only lived there for 18 months and then moved to Northern Minnesota. Rick, just like me, also has lived in Colorado, and like me was living in Western Minnesota when he decided to move to Blue Earth.

So when someone asks where are you from, it can be a little tricky for some of us who have not lived in the same place all of our lives.

That brings up another question. Is where you were born the actual birthing spot, or where your parents were living at the time. My oldest son, Nate, was born in Fargo, North Dakota, but we were living 70 miles away in Enderlin, North Dakota. My other two kids, Nick and Katy, were born in Mankato but we lived in Waterville.

I interviewed someone a while back who said he was born in the Blue Earth Hospital, but never lived in Blue Earth his whole life. I got his point.

Speaking of being born in Blue Earth, my granddaughter, Lauren, who has lived almost her whole life in Ripon, California, was born at UHD in Blue Earth. Her parents were living here at the time, but shortly after her birth they moved. I remind her often that she is a Blue Earthian.

And speaking of being born in Blue Earth, the topic of the increasing number of births at UHD came up during the interview with Rick Ash. This year they will probably top 200 babies being born there. That is a lot for a small town, but, of course, all those babies are not just from Blue Earth.

Once again, I am going to say that we are so very lucky to have a facility like UHD in our community. It is truly remarkable – the number of medical staff and services is simply incredible. My friends from other places are amazed when I tell them what we have here.

Now for the “you simply can’t make this stuff up.” After talking with Rick about where we were born, and how many babies are going to be delivered at UHD this year, I returned to my office and found an old newspaper clipping on my desk that had been left there by Mark Mensing.

The clipping, pictured at left, was a picture of a dozen babies that had just been born and were in the nursery at the Blue Earth Community Hospital 75 years ago.

I guess Blue Earth has been having lots of babies born here for many years. And not all of them are from Blue Earth, of course.

So, where are you from? Or should I ask, where were you born?

You can take this week’s poll question, on this page at the right of this column, and tell me.