People think loving California means pretending it is perfect. I never felt that way. I have been frustrated with this state more times than I can count. Too expensive, too crowded, too much changing too fast.
But then I think about my mother hanging laundry in the sun, my brothers fixing old cars in the driveway, my father coming home with dust on his clothes, and all of us eating dinner too late because somebody had work or school or a ride to give.
California is where our family became a family. Not the pretty version people post online, but the real one. Arguments, bills, birthdays, hospital visits, graduations, funerals, and everything in between.
This hex is for the state I have loved, left, complained about, defended, and come back to in my heart more times than I can explain.