My children were born in New York but now live in Texas. I sometimes wish we had never moved.

• I moved to Houston following my husband.

• I still don't know how to deal with floods in Texas.

• Sometimes I wish we were still in Texas.

I have to teach my kids what a real pine tree is, with its triangle shape and long branches that I used to make forts under as a child.

The view has changed a lot. My children were born in the city. They played in the American Museum of Natural History, joined baby-music classes on the Upper East Side, and threw leaves in the air.

Over the years, I have come to accept that they are now southern kids living in Houston, Texas, rather than Manhattan.

They wear shorts year-round, wear sunshine on their skin, crave Whataburger, have never made a snowman, and get pumped for Go Texan Day, dressed in boots, vests, and hats.

I moved to follow my then-husband

It wasn't my idea to move to Houston from New York. I thought it was only for a short time.

BBQ festivals, square dancing, bluebonnets, and the flaws of my marriage were shown to me by Texas. It seems like I'm stuck here until my kids grow up, because with a Texas divorce decree and the kids settled in school with friends and activities, it seems like I'm stuck here forever.

I didn't realize the seriousness of hurricanes and flooding until after the divorce, when I could see the rain rushing to the bayou behind my apartment. I was confused about what I needed. I knew a lot of waterways. The Hudson River is not a muddy, slow- moving waterway system like a bayou. I chose the second floor due to the fact that Texas can get a lot of rain in a short period of time.

I worry about my kids' safety more than before

The experiences that remind me of Texas include a dead snake's skin being tangled in my daughter's scooter wheels, a lack of road shoulders, and guns-and-ammo signs.

While living in a state with loose gun laws, I worry about my children's safety. I don't know what women's health will be like in the future. I will tell her about contraceptives because of the war on women's access to care and treatment in this state, but I don't know how old she is.

My children are half New Yorkers. The ZIP code they were born in is used to remind them that there is more than one state.

I want a big sugar-maple leaf. My eyebrow is in awe of the tall pine. I want an orange-and-maroon horizon of foliage, but for my kids' sake, I'm concentrating on making Texas mine.

I know my kids won't have the same memories as me, but I can't leave where I'm from. They can have both and it's up to me to show them the beauty in both places.

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