As always on Tuesdays, we are looking for “the good” in our home. However, it’s not always our own home that makes us feel special, or loved, or “at home”. We all have places, whether near or far, that hold a special place in our heart—places we have made memories, places we have grown up or grown together, places we love. Today I’m sharing a few of my “homes” with you…
1.My parents’
house(s)…Of course I have an attachment to the house (duplex) that I grew
up in. We moved there when I was three,
and my parents didn’t leave there until I was almost done with college. Nearly all of my childhood memories were made
there…birthday parties, Christmas mornings, my first pet (a Pekingese named
Squirty), and just the day-to-day life of me, my mom, and my dad. Wonderful
times—I was lucky to have such a good childhood. And now they have a new house…one that I thought I would never live in with them,
but never say never! After my husband
and I sold our first house, we ended up moving in with my parents for about a
year until we found our new home. And so,
we now have a lot of memories at my parent’s “new” house, too! Especially because our son spent much of his
first two years there…he went from the cradle to the crib there, he first
climbed stairs there, he started talking there, he started sleeping in his “own”
room there…SO many memories of our precious first born! And in fact, we even brought our second-born son home to their house from
the hospital!
2. My grandma Shirl’s
house…As I have mentioned already on the blog, my grandma’s house is
usually the meeting place for the whole family.
And not just at holidays or special events—we are there every week! Most Saturdays we are seated around her
kitchen table, sometimes just 5 or 6 of us, sometimes 10 or 15, or more! It has always been this way, I don’t remember
a time that we didn’t have Sabbath lunches at her house. In a way, all of us cousins grew up in that
house. Many of us have even lived there
at one point or another…for me, it was in college, after my grandpa died. Those few months gave me a lot of new memories of her house—just the two
of us living there, reading books at night and eating breakfast together. I even woke up in that house on my wedding
day!
3.My aunt Jeannie’s
house…Yet another place that I actually did
live! When our house burned down when I was
in 5th grade, my parents and I moved in with my aunt Jean, my uncle
Steve, and my cousin Elyse. Our time
living there was an emotional roller-coaster, after having lost nearly
everything we owned (including our pets), but at the same time enjoying the
bond between family, and realizing how lucky we were to have them in our
lives. Jean had always been like a
second mom, and Elyse like my sister, but after living together, the
connections were only stronger. We brought
home our new pet, my dog Molly, to their house—what a special time for a little
girl! Now that we are all grown up,
Elyse and I send our boys there to Jean’s daycare, where they play with the
toys that we grew up with and they are learning to love each other as we
do. It’s a special place!
4. My in-laws’ (old)
house…No offense to their new house, but I have a special place in my heart
for the house that my husband grew up in.
Since we started dating when we were 16, and they only recently moved
out of that house, we obviously spent a lot
of time there! I met all of his family in
that house, we spent many nights watching movies or playing games with our
friends there in high school, and it was in that kitchen where Matt announced
to a whole group of people that he had asked me to marry him. When they decided to move about 2 years ago, I
think I might have been just as sad as Matt!
We fell in love there, and I guess I just thought they would always live
there…but hey, we are starting to love the new house, too! Our boys go there a lot, and their dede (grandma)
has made them a wonderful playroom in
her basement. New house, new memories to
be made!
5. Spain…I know
this isn’t a home, but I did live
there for 6 months in college, and I felt such a connection to that place, to
the people. In fact there is a home where I feel at home there…it’s
a 2nd story flat on the busiest street in Seville, called
Menendez-Pelayo. There I met my house
mother, Maravilla, and her wonderful family—most importantly her son, my
life-long friend Álvaro. Without him,
and my other friend Chelsea, my experience in Spain would never have been so
good. I fell in love with the country,
the lifestyle, the music, the food (ha!), all
of it! No matter how long it takes me to
get back there, I will always have a tugging to return. Anything related to Spain makes me miss it—watching
a movie, hearing a song, even seeing something “Spanish-looking” or eating
Spanish food (by the way, if you want Spanish food, I know the place for
you! I will be posting about it soon…keep
an eye out!).
I think 5 “home away from homes” is more than anyone could
ever ask for in life! I consider myself beyond lucky to have grown up in a
family, and a circle of friends, where there were so many welcoming homes, so
many loving people who shared their four walls with me. I am forever grateful to all of them, and I hope
that my children have as much luck to find so many “homes” in their lives,
too. As long as their favorite home is mine!
Do you have any “home away from homes”? Why are they special to you?
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