No Place like Home

“Close you eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, there’s no place like home.”

– Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Wizard of Oz )

Isn't that the truth? There's no place on Earth that feels as good as home. Your own bed, the clothes that you call your favorites, even the food that waits for you in the pantry. No matter where we have travelled, it's always good to come home. I love everything about this house, where it sets in the woods, the way the sun filters through the trees into the living room...conveniently just where I'm setting in the late afternoon. I like my little black teapot and my Earl Grey Tea. I like my comfy chair and the furry faux leopard throw to cover me up and take a nap. And I love the way the house feels when we are both home and Ben is asleep at our feet.

Through the years there were times when home meant different places. Like the transfer to North Carolina when we lived in a motel for several weeks while the new house was finished. Amy was 8 then and Stephanie was off to college. It was the first time our family was apart and it was a hard move. We were only there a few days when we received a call from the movers, the van had turned over on an icy road in Tennessee with all of our worldly possessions on board. It was a terrible feeling being in that motel room and not knowing if we had anything left to put in a house. The insurance paid for all of the broken furniture and Thank God, the really important things like Grandma's china was intact.

A few years later in Texas we sat in a shelter after the worst flooding in a century devastated our lakeside neighborhood. Twenty-six inches in twenty-four hours. We didn't expect to find a dry house the next day when we were allowed to return. The water came up to the edge of our garage, then receded. All of the waterfront homes had water 12 foot up on the first floors and it was weeks recovering. We pulled together during that terrible time, neighbors who mostly said polite hellos shared meals and homes. Brought us to our knees literally and figuratively.