What is Home?

I have moved countless times in my life, not only to different cities but also in different homes in the same city. Our apartment in NYC has undergone renovations and now has no remnants of our children’s bedrooms. I think of my bedroom growing up, and after my siblings went off to college, my Mom sold the house and moved into her own place that had nothing of mine there. Regardless, I still considered her house my home. It wasn’t when I grew up, but my Mom represented my childhood home.

Our kids are all living their own lives in their own homes. I love how they have each created spaces that represent their comfort places. We all live in different spaces, but when I see them, or we all get together, wherever that is, that feeling of comfort, safety, love, and warmth is home. It might not be a physical space but when we see them, we are home.

Home is not a physical space as much as a mental space. I love my physical homes; they give me comfort, and even though some of those spaces are built for just me and Fred, we consider them our families homes.

It is the familiarity of our kids’ hugs, voices, faces, and thoughts that say to me, “I am home.” As our kids become older, and create their own lives, wherever they may be, as they should even though I would love to have them all in the same place, all the time, that is not fair, as we taught them to be their own people and to be what made them happy.

Home is a space in your heart. It has taken some time for me to wrap my arms around that, but I think I am there. We are a small, connected family, including my sister, my brother, our sister-in-law, and their kids, and it is home that I feel every time I see them, regardless of where we are. Home is really just a state of mind.