Where is Home?
Home – I’ve been pondering what it means. I have to admit that lately I have been thinking about whether I want to “downsize” or not. I have to almost laugh at that term – to me it sounds like you’re firing yourself. I keep thinking we don’t need all this space, but then I’m proven wrong.
While out to dinner last night, an old high school friend asked me if my husband and I were empty-nesters. I looked behind me at my whole family and started to think about what that term really means. Right now, my house is full, as it has been all summer. At the time of this post my three children are home, my two 100 pound dogs are at my feet, and oh yeah – hubby lives here too. In the weeks to come, though, they’ll all be gone (well, not the hubby) – back to college, back to the west coast, and simply moved out.
Throughout the summer we’ve had more overnight guests than I can ever remember. Sometimes up to eight kids (well, hardly kids) at a time, and a couple of extended family members visiting as well. Sometimes I wasn’t even sure who I would find where. Far too many guests saw my morning attire – really, not a pretty sight – I have a thing for comfort at night. I won’t say more.
Most were ideal guests, which was a pleasant surprise to me. My girls, when they were younger, attended a life-changing 7-week residential summer camp for girls. To this day, they keep in touch with their lifelong camp friends. They have many reunions, and a couple of weeks ago, it was at our house. One thing the girls learned at camp was manners (along with a lot more). Not only did our camp guests leave the place as they found it, or better, but a couple of days after they left I received a lovely bouquet of flowers with a nice card, and a couple of days after that I received a thank you card. Hmmm – I know some people who could take a page from that book and learn a thing or two.
My older daughter is also a blogger. I guess it runs in the family. I am constantly impressed by the number of great posts she manages. She writes about food and health and I’m incredibly proud of her. On Tuesday, she was posting from “home” in California, and last night she posted from her “home” in Connecticut. So that brought to mind my original thought, which was what makes a home a home? Is it a safe haven? Is it a place you know where you’ll always be welcomed? Is it a place where you’ll always have a key? A place where something of yours is always left behind?
All I know is that right now, all my kids are home, and I’m happy.
