One of my brothers, still living in New England, says that to him I now sound like a “southern belle.” Despite my time in Iowa, I don’t have that midwestern sound, not really, but it did round things out a little. Depending on the accents of the people I spend time with, I think my own accent probably varies a bit. Here the South, I don’t try to take on any of the many Southern accents, but I do slow down a bit and hang onto my vowels just that microsecond longer.

I think I probably still have a bit of that Boston area/Massachusetts thing going on. All it takes is five minutes talking with a friend from my hometown (between Boston MA and Providence RI), and I’ll be saying “OOooh, my Goooahd, thass WICked coool” even while laughing about it.

Yeah, still homesick.