When ‘Where Are You From?’ Takes You Someplace Unexpected

Imagine finding out one day that many of the stories that you told about yourself weren’t really true. The way you understood your family history, the way you explained your personality (“I’m Italian, of course I talk loud!”), the way you talked about your hair — what if all of it was just, well, stories?

Or maybe even stranger: What if you found out that you had a whole hidden history that you’d never known about? That generations of your family had lived through events that you had no idea you were connected to?

Would that change who you are?