- I grew up with the last name of House.

And when I would score a basket, my basketball team would sing, ♪ She's a brick house ♪ although it was more because of the last name than my physical stature.

I was a house of sticks, tall, gangly, awkward, emphasis on awkward.

I would slump my shoulders to blend in with my short friends.

I would have pants that were never long enough, and still never are.

And I remember the first time I saw the top of the refrigerator, I was in awe watching my body become something unlike everyone in my house.

I grew up not knowing my real dad.

The last name House was my stepdad's.

Why am I about to cry?

This is a good story.

(audience chuckles) (laughs) - [Audience Member] That's what good stories do.

- Aw.

So in the '80s, my mom left her boyfriend and discovered she was pregnant with me, oops.

My earliest memories are with her.

And at night I would crawl out of bed and get in hers and put my head on her chest, and I'd hear the thump-bump, thump-bump of her heart.

And we moved a bunch, but that thump-bump felt like home.

And we never talked about my real dad, and I didn't think I lacked one.

And then after a brief bout of dating, she married my stepdad when I was six, and it was very odd to suddenly have a man around.

And I never crawled back into bed with her after that.

We were never really close again, not really.

You know, three is a crowd.

And then she had a baby, and another, and another, and another, so four boys total.

And the wedge between me and her...

I did not do this in my practicing.

(laughs) (audience applauding and cheering) And the wedge between me and her compounded each time.

My upbringing was not like my brothers'.

I had a lot of responsibility to help her with all these kids.

And I had to grow up fast and become independent.

And my last name was House.

And I lived in a house with people who put their own definition on me as to who I should be.

And they went on pretending like I was one of them.

And I felt like I was not.

I knew the unspoken truth, and I was very uncomfortable and very awkward, and a pendulum always on one side.

And I couldn't wait to move out when I was 18.

And when I did, I went on a journey of self-discovery.

I became a flight attendant.

And I lived out of a suitcase, and I had no address and no vehicle, no anchor.

I loved it.

And an unexpected side effect to becoming the nomad is that you become home.

And wherever I was, I was home.

But I didn't know all of me.

And it was time to find foundational answers.

So I located my real dad.

I got his phone number.

And I know those stories.

I've heard where the kids reach out to the parents, and it's a negative outcome.

So I simplified my intent.

I just wanted to hear his voice.

And so I dialed the number.

And he answered, "Hello."

And I hung up on him.

It was an overwhelmed reaction.

But I called back, and we talked.

I told him about me, but I asked him more about himself, and I couldn't absorb his information fast enough.

And when the call ended, I was satisfied.

He was kind.

He was kind.

And then a few days later, flowers arrived from him.

And he called me again.

And we talked often.

And eventually, I flew out, and I met him and his lovely wife and their children, and my extended family, my grandparents, my cousins, my aunts, my uncles.

Oh, it was all very stimulating.

I was looking at them and seeing resemblances and personalities and interests.

And they accepted me as if I had grown up with them.

It was more than I could have dreamed up.

My pendulum had finally swung the other way.

And when they accepted me, I subconsciously accepted myself.

I felt more comfortable in my skin.

My mind and my body were in sync where I could see the whole puzzle from just working with the thousands of blank pieces before.

I was a pendulum balanced, able to swing from one end to the other.

And in that, I was able to find my way in the world.

And I met an amazing man with a big heart.

And he asked me a million questions on our first date but ones I could answer.

Roots became a priority.

And after five years of flying, I went back to college, and I married that amazing man.

And his mother's maiden name is Holmes.

So my last name went from House to Holmes, kind of.

(laughs) And we have children.

And when I had our first, our daughter, I made sure that when I would cuddle with her at night, before laying her down in her crib, to put her ear to my chest so she could hear the thump-bump of my heart.

Because I finally found a home in myself that was comfortable and complete, becoming home for her.

(audience cheering and applauding)