Ms. Angelou was really onto something when she penned the above quote. As we have reflected on it, we've thought not only of the many clients we've been fortunate to serve this past year, but of our own living situations as well.
Each of us have our own challenges to create "home" in the places in which we live. You may not own your home, you may have to share your home with roommates that aren't family, your home may be temporary, it may be smaller than you need, or you may be in just the right spot. Whatever the circumstances, home is where you happen to be. It's the place where family & friends can gather, it's the place where you can cook breakfast in your PJs, or maybe it's just the place you can find some quiet.
Home doesn't have to look a certain way or be a specific place, it is much more of a feeling, a "place" we create as we tend what we have.
This year, I (taryn) have moved from my home of 9 years that my husband, his dad, & several friends, & I had spent countless hours making our home. It was not an easy place to say goodbye to. So many wonderful memories were made there, first baby steps, countless birthdays of family & friends, wedding celebrations, showers, rich & meaningful conversations, Christmases, Easter brunches, Halloweens, the list could go on forever. Now as we live in a temporary home that is filled with someone else's furniture, kitchen gadgets, and home decor, I have grieved the loss of the place we loved so much. I have also celebrated these people I get to share a roof with in ways that I never did living in our former home. I've had to let go of how my home looks and, instead, clung to how my home feels.
So, as you reflect on the idea of home this holiday season, I encourage you to go a little deeper than home just being a certain scent or even sitting on your couch. This holiday season our family has neither familiar smells or our own couch to sit on, yet we're home because it's where we are. It's where we're having conversations that matter, we're snuggling, sharing meals, we're trying to listen well, love hard, and show up each day. Honestly, I wouldn't trade this season for the world. I wouldn't have asked for it, but this chapter of our family's life will shape all 5 of us in ways we never could have been shaped had we not left 1983 Maplewood Drive.
