Sunday, August 5, 2007

From House to Home

Last week I celebrated my 25th birthday, and my mama took me to my favorite home decorating store to let me pick out my gift. While browsing the shelves there, I saw a sign that I have been pondering for the last week. Home is Where Your Story Begins. Now that I am a mama to two precious girls, I have been thinking long on what makes a house a home. Because it's true. Home is where our life stories do begin! Inside the four walls that surround you, important decisions will be made, hearts and minds will be molded, and memories will be created. What a BIG purpose the home serves in growing up young people!

Home can mean many different things to many different people. To some it means a significant place, to others it might mean a certain group of people. For everyone, I hope it means a sense of security and belonging.

Boss and I grew up in very different settings. In the twenty years before Boss left home, he only lived in two different houses, all in one county! All of his childhood memories include one city, in one home, with the same people surrounding him. Whenever we visit his parents, it ALWAYS feels like coming home to Boss.

My growing up experience was very different. In my twenty five years, I have lived in 5 states: Texas (at three different times), Georgia, West Virginia, New Mexico, and now, Ohio. The cities we have called home are too numerous to name. I also spent the early years of my childhood overseas in Saudi Arabia. And the amount of residences (including homes and college apartments) amounts to sixteen different places of residence in twenty five years! Therefore, no one particular place feels like home to me. When I think of going home, I think of going wherever it is that my family happens to be.

I do not believe that one way of growing up is better than another, as there are a million different ways to do life right. I have simply been thinking. Thinking about what I want my girls to remember of home. So far, in four years of marriage, Boss and I have already lived in four different states, so perhaps it is time for us to settle down and build our home. I don't know. Perhaps it is because the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence, but I want my girls to have a place that feels like home to them, beyond just the sense of family. No matter where life takes them, I want them to be able to close their eyes and envision coming home when the world becomes too much. I would love to have a home where Boss and I could grow old together, and where memories were made in one certain place. I would love to chart my girl's growth on a door frame and see it for the next fifty years of my life. With Boss being in retail, I realize the idea of us staying in one place is not likely, but a girl can dream.

So, what does home mean to you? My brother is a high rise in a city kind of guy. My mom's heart belongs to the mountains and her grandkids. Boss' parent's home is in the same zip code it has always been and always will be.

Me? I am undecided. I believe I would like a little piece of land, so tht my children could run their little hearts out. I want a house with a big porch and a swing. I would love a pond and a big dog to greet us when we come home every evening. My dream is to have a large dining room table to fill with family always, and friends whenever time allows. This is my dream of turning house into home. I can't wait to see how our story plays out.

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