What "Home" Means to Me

by Terri

Our focus this month is on Home and this got me thinking about the way the word “home” strikes a chord in all of us. One of the definitions is: 

"The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household."

For me, I never felt I would live anywhere “permanently”. When I was growing up, my family moved around a lot. Until I was in high school, we never lived in the same place for longer than a year or two. I was always the “new kid” and I think that shaped my personality in ways that might have been different if I had lived in the same place during my growing-up years. My husband was an "army brat" who probably moved as much or more than I did. We both knew we didn't want that for our children.

We bought our first house right after our first son was born. By the time our family had grown to three sons, we decided to build our forever home. That is the home you see in the photo above.  When we were building this house, our oldest son was just starting first grade and, because I didn’t want him to start at one school and then have to move to a different school when our house was done, I drove him 30 minutes each way to school every morning for three months with a four-year-old and a newborn in tow. But I was determined my kids would start and stay at the same school if at all possible. I wanted them to be able to make and keep the same friends from Kindergarten through high school, and they did.

Twenty-eight years later, we still live in this same home and I can’t imagine living anywhere else. This is where our boys grew up and where all the memories are. This is where they learned to ride their bikes in the cul-de-sac in front of our house and made forts in the desert. This was the site of many birthday parties in our backyard pool, not to mention all the Christmas memories made here. This is where they and their friends hung out in high school, playing video games and eating pizza. This is where all of their heights are marked on the wall behind the door in the laundry room, from the time they were small until they were grown men. Through several house repaintings, I have never let anyone touch that wall.

In looking through my old photo albums, this is the earliest photo of our house that I could find, taken in the summer of 1986, about six months after we moved in:

There has been quite a change in the landscaping (not to mention the boys!) in that period of time but one thing that hasn’t changed – this is HOME.  As our quote in the Monthly Focus tab above says, “Home, that our feet may leave but not our hearts.”

Have you lived in the same place for a long time or have you moved around a lot in your life? Share your stories in the comments section as well as some photos in the Flickr gallery of what home is to you. We would love for you to share your thoughts and views of Home.