Where is home?

Where is home for you?

Where are you from?

I’m never quite sure how to answer this question.

Is it my current address, where I was born, where I have lived the longest?

My answer depends on my mood I guess.

In reality I have lived in 10 different places in my lifetime.  I only counted the places where I had actual addresses and to be honest some were just stopovers to the next place.  Well long stopovers as in months.  Enough to require a change of address and all the headaches that go with it.

I like having a place to call home.  An actual location that feels familiar and gives me a sense of security.  I know for sure I will never be one of those people who lives in an RV full time.  I think it sounds like fun but I know it is not for me.

It is interesting that the last 12 months has been a series of upheavals (some of our own making) and we are currently living in what we lovingly call “Chez Warehouse” as we wait for our new house to be completed.  It is not home in the traditional sense but it is not awful.  I keep looking for stuff that is packed and out of reach and I am anxiously awaiting to get settled in our new digs.

Yet I am home when I am here with family.  Mainly it is my hubby and I and our “temporary” cat that our daughter asked us to watch 12 or 13 years ago.  That makes me chuckle.  The things our kids dupe us into always makes me shake my head.

I feel at home when I walk onto my college campus.  I relax and walk the campus like I did when I attended classes and partied like there was no tomorrow.   It is always beautiful and peaceful.  It is also the place where I met my hubby 🙂  An added bonus is when all my friends show up for a reunion.  We chat like no time has passed.  They are the most amazing women for many reasons but mostly because we all love each unconditionally and enjoy each others company.

Surprisingly I feel the same way about Italy.  I visited for the first time in 2014 and we are making plans to go back.  I am not Italian, I do not have relatives there but it feels like home.  Who knows why but it is one of my favorite places that makes me happy.

My childhood town of LaGrange, Illinois is also special to me.  Memories of roller skating up and down the sidewalks and just enjoying life.  That house and place had a lot to do with where we raised our children.  We picked a community with sidewalks. Sidewalks bring a community together and whether it was the sidewalks or the people or a combination of both we made lifelong friends there on Cranberry Ct that I will always cherish.

When we built a house in 2007 I included many features from my  childhood home  in the new one including a laundry chute and a walk in pantry.  I felt at home the minute we moved in.

Recently the home where we raised our children went on the market and we gathered round as the we all looked over the photos of a home that held so many memories.  Colors and carpet and appliances had changed with the times but the window was there that our one daughter would use to sneak our late at night. That brought gales of laugher…especially recalling  when we caught her sneaking back in.  Memories of when I crumpled one of our brand new garage doors and imitations of Paul yelling my name (my foot slipped off the brake as I was picking up something off the floor) also caused us to laugh.  It wasn’t funny then of course but it is hilarious now.

Graduations, weddings, baptisms, neighborhood gatherings, friendships, holidays.

Home is the gathering of those you care about, the fun memories and the anticipation of the events to come.

Family recipes, dinner disasters, teenage antics.

Hugs, dinners shared, and gales of laughter.

All of it.

Home is a place of love and we can take that everywhere.

I can’t wait to move into our new place but I also can’t wait to make memories, gather around the table and let the walls warm with our laughter.

May this find you in the warmth of your home whether it be an actual place or the people who make you feel at home.