What Makes A Home?

What would you miss the most about where you live if you went on an extended vacation, or moved to another place? My husband and I spent a long weekend in Chicago and the thought crossed my mind on the way home on the train. What is my favorite thing, person, etc. that would make it hard to leave?

One such "thing" for me has to be having my grand kids around. Being able to call them and just go visit at any time is a huge plus! But what is the most important thing for me that means "home?" Each of us has that little something that has to be there to make any place a home. Sometimes it's a special cup, or picture, it totally depends on what you treasure.

When many refugees moved to the United States after WWI and WWII they came with the shirts on their backs - literally, so the those little items that meant family, safety and love were even more important. Sometimes they brought a menorah, a special baking dish, or even a cup and saucer. For many of us home means something passed down through the years, and for me it is a painting that I remember sitting on the couch and figuratively crawling into to escape. The picture was of an old school house that seems to be just over the hill. You can see a steeple and the fall leaves on all the surrounding trees. I could feel the crunch of leaves under foot, and when I was young it meant a needed escape from much of my every day life.

The painting became mine after a family member died and since then has been on the wall shedding its "light" on all family occasions in our home. That special item can actually became a part of the family. It can become a memory, or even that warm fuzzy which you have come to rely on to make that small apartment, farm house, or cottage truly a home.