“…all the friends that I’ve made throughout the years, some as early as freshman year of college, and some as late as within the past year or two. They all definitely have a piece in the puzzle of making Bellingham home. It’s always weird when they move, which I know is something that happens everywhere, all the time, when you have a good friend who moves away. It feels like a piece of home and comfort, something that’s super familiar, is now gone.”
Hannah Blank is a young communications professional based in Bellingham, WA, USA. She grew up in Kennewick, a small town on the eastern side of Washington State, and moved to Bellingham to pursue her undergraduate degree at Western Washington University. Bellingham has since become home for her and her partner, whom she met while completing her undergraduate studies. In this interview, Hannah discusses her memories of home from childhood through to adulthood. She describes from personal experience how a place becomes home, and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted her sense of belonging and connection to spaces and places.
Hannah is interviewed by Cejay Johnson.