4/40 Geography Matters

When I was born in Omaha, NE, my parents had one of their friends read my name Andrew Thomas Ellwood and say, "You know, if you move to Texas, they'll call him Andy-Tom!"

When I was three years old, we moved to Texas. Fortunately, no one ever called me Andy-Tom.

But it was a move that completely changed the trajectory of my life. Not slightly, but in a huge way. I look back at my early childhood friends and extended family that were about my age and realize how different our lives were. Sure, there are a lot of reasons for that, but so much of who I became as a child and later as an adult feels germane to the culture and opportunities that came from moving to Texas.