Hello friends! I'm back home again after spending two weeks in WV with my family. I couldn't agree more with the tile you see on the foyer table which states, "Home is where we love, rest, dream and nest." I especially like the "rest" part because that is what I feel I need to do a lot of for awhile. The last two weeks were pretty intense. As I have shared before, my oldest sister is not well, and her condition has worsened. She needs care that cannot be given at home so she agreed to the difficult decision to enter an assisted living facilty. In addition to overseeing the moving of furniture to her new apartment, I was involved in packing her clothing and decorating her new place. All hard work and I'm thankful that other family was there to support me and help with everything that had to be done. Moving someone you love to assisted living is a very emotional experience. There are many adjustments to make and that includes the whole family, not just the person moving there. On a personal level, I feel drained and tearful and concerned for what the future may bring.
However....
This experience has gotten me to thinking about the concept of "home." And how the word "home" can have many different connotations. My sisters (I have four) always say that they hope I can "come home" soon to visit. And yet, I haven't lived in the WV home I grew up in for almost 40 years. Spending two weeks in that home that I grew up in was a bit strange this time, especially knowing that my oldest sister, the owner of the family home, was no longer going to be there. When I was in college and was going to go back to my dorm room I would say I was "going home." My husband and I have owned three different "homes" and we have lived happily in our current one for over 20 years.
I guess the truth is that there are many different "homes" we can experience in life and as long as we can love, rest, dream and nest....as the tile says.....then we are home.
I'm thankful to be back to my home with The Mr. and with Cassie and Garden. I missed them all very much on my two week journey to help out with family. My family is here.....my family is there.....my heart and my home are in more than one place.
So I'll just keep loving...and resting....and dreaming....and nesting....and being grateful to be at home!
How about you? What is your concept of "home"? Be sure to let me know in the comments. I love hearing from you!
My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
Isaiah 32:18
Until Next Time,
Debbie
11 comments:
Your thoughts about home are lovely and so beautifully expressed. I, too, have had many homes over the years, especially during my husband’s active duty years in the Air Force.
I was not very good at moving because it required the dismantling of a home that I had just created! This truly was gut-wrenching for me. My husband would say, “Laura, you leave each place kicking and screaming and then put down roots and go kicking and screaming again.” He was exactly right.
Building a home for me includes building a community. Everywhere we lived, finding community was as important as creating a safe, comfortable, and restful physical space. I would become very attached to both. And that is still true for my home of now 28 years.
My husband often talks about downsizing and I feel myself “kicking and screaming” again whenever he broaches the subject. I don’t want to leave our physical space or the community I have built. I want to stay close to my friends, my church, my familiar surroundings. I don’t want to start over anymore.
I know well that the day may come that I must leave my current home and create a new one. And I know, too, that I will go kicking and screaming, if only in my heart.
Thank you, Laura, for these thoughts on your definition of home. I can't imagine all of the moves you must have made over the years and how hard it must have been each time. I hope we can keep you in our community for as long as possible as I would surely feel the loss of you!
What a lovely saying on your foyer tile! I'm glad you're back to your Asheville home where you can rest from your trip. It sounds like you did some "nesting" for your sister while you were there so that she can feel at home in her new space by having familiar things around her. That is a real gift to provide that for her.
I think you're right about home - it can be where you grew up, where you've lived the longest or something entirely different. We moved around a good bit when my kids were growing up. It just didn't occur to me at the time that it might affect them - but it did. We have diverse experiences in relation to home. If I had to do it over again would I do it differently? Maybe. Too late now to find out. As far as home to me, I moved back to where I was born 32 years ago and it's definitely home to me.
Iris
www.IrisOriginalsRamblings.com
Thank you Debbie. Having a “home” to return to is everything. After my mother passed and our childhood home was sold, there was no common gathering place for my seven siblings.” Home “ now will be heaven. So happy you are back here!
Debbie,
It's good to hear that you are "home" again. I have thought about you numerous times and wondered what was going on with your eldest sister. I'm glad you were able to be of help to her in getting her settled into her new "nest". I know she must be very appreciative. Now it's time for you to rest and refresh in the place you love with Bill and the cat babies.
Susan A
Thank you, Sharon. Thinking about doing "nesting" for my sister and that it was a gift to her really touches my heart. It puts a positive spin on a difficult two weeks. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Iris. It's amazing how many different "homes" we really have in our lives.
Thank you, Susan. I really appreciate your thoughts and it is so very good to be "home" here where I belong! Hope to see you soon.
Thank you, Mary. I love the idea of heaven being "home." I'm so glad to be back here too!
Debbie; Although I’ve lived in Huntington 44 years, home for me will always be Parkersburg. I do enjoyed seeing you and your sisters when we were both ‘home’ a couple of weeks ago. My second home is church; I cannot explain the absolute joy it gives me to enter that building every weekend for Mass…that building that is God’s home ❤️
I love you! Hope to see you again soon.
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