A place called home

It's the reason I started this blog...Mama Kat's Writers Workshop

4.) “How many homes have you had? Write a journal entry about ALL the places you’ve called ‘home’ in your life.”

At this point in my life I can say I have called two places “home.” I have lived plenty more places, too many to count. To me, home is where I have a sense of family and belonging.

The first place I called home was back in Washington where I grew up. It was in a house my dad built with his own two hands, to me it was a mansion in the middle of a magical forest. I lived in that home from ages four to ten…this happens(still) to be the longest I have ever lived in one place. Making that time, the most stable time of my entire upbringing. When I took my husband to visit my home state back in September, I could not wait to show him that house, of all the places I lived growing up. Driving down Sunset Avenue to my old house brought back so many memories: riding bikes down the road, walking to the school bus. And then I saw it…and it wasn’t as big as I remembered it, and it was….wait for it….yellow!! While it certainly wasn’t the mansion I had boasted about growing up in, it was still my beautiful home. That house held all the childhood memories I cherished, of Christmas mornings and lazy summer days. No matter how it looks to anyone else, it will always be my magical mansion in the forest.

B-Town, WA

The second place I call home happens to be the house we live in now. It is really nothing to write about, it is SO SMALL! It is a starter home, and the first house my husband has ever owned(at 41). We closed on the house right before we got married…literally. 8 days before we got married, and 6 weeks before our son was born…I know, one of “those” weddings…wink ;) wink ;)

The house is barely 900 sq ft. and it was uninhabited for 2 years before we came along. To say it wasn’t lived in isn’t exactly true…there were many woodland creatures who liked to call our place home, even after we moved in(that’s another blog, for another day). Whoever lived in the house 2 years prior to us, trashed it!! When we came along it was in need of some major repair, and TLC! We were crazy to take it on in the midst of getting married, and having a baby. But our options were limited, and we were determined to make it work. Or rather, my husband was determined to make his pregnant wife happy. I am so proud to call this little place home, my husband has put so much hard work, love, and dedication into this house. It in NO way resembles the place we bought 2 years ago; we have new carpets, floors, new paint, new fixtures, and all thanks to my husband’s handiwork. Not only did the house get a major face lift, but it also got a family. Our house has thrived with its new residents. Having our son play in his room, run through the house, and wake up here on Christmas morning has been a dream come true…and I finally feel at home again.

Somewhere-town-NY