Home

I have a son who for years has performed the role of a grammar cop in my life.  In fact, I know if he reads this blog he probably won't like that first sentence, and any errors in language usage or punctuation will stick out at him with such intensity he will have difficulty even reading the context of my message.  One mistake I have made over the years, according to him, is my usage of the words house and home.

I apparently used them interchangeably for many years even though I know that house describes a building, but home describes so much more...

The building pictured above has been my home for many years now.  We moved our family of five into this house in 1987 and two years later we added one more member of the family when our fourth child was born.  The house is home now to only two of us--Hubby and me.

Fortunately two of our adult children and a little granddaughter live very nearby so the house echoes with sounds of life often.  We also have part of the greatest generation that live nearby and when my mother and aunts visit, four generations are present all at once.  All of us gathered around the table for a holiday meal is when I know that my house is most certainly a home.

On rare occasions even more of the family makes their way to our home.  And so it is with great anticipation I look forward to my daughter's wedding next month when several people will be gathering in my house before and after the nuptial event.  I can hardly wait for brothers and cousins and nieces and nephews and friends from afar to enter our lives for a few days and make more memories.  I can't wait for the grammar cop to fly halfway around the world and come home again for a few days.  I relish the hugs I will feel as people enter and the laughter and love that will be shared once we are all gathered together.

Our house, as you can see from the photograph, is just a modest American home that has decreased in value in recent years.  Fortunately the value of the house has nothing to do with the value of the home.  The relationships that have grown and the personalities that were nurtured in our home all remain, and are priceless.  Those who grew up in this house are now dynamic, contributing, intelligent residents of the world and have established homes of their own.  And Hubby and I only live here half of the year as we have found a little house in Florida can also be a marvelous home.

Personalities and opinions will soon be flowing through the rooms of this house and memories are just waiting to be made.  I wait with anticipation for those hours we will all share in this wonderful, simple, loving home of mine.