Ask Me What Home Means

Ask the child me what home means

And I will tell you that home is where I feel safe, loved.

A place where my parents live, my siblings, my pets.

It paints a picture of what I want as my future.

Ask the new college student me what home means

And I will tell you that home is a place to which I return.

A place where I can visit, and frequently do.

It is the place where I grew up and was molded.

It is the place that holds the memories of my childhood.

Ask the newly married me what home means

And I will tell you that I have two homes now.

One is where I reside with my spouse, where we are building our dreams;

The other is that place that lives in my memories.

***

Ask the new parent me what home means

And I will tell you that home is the place where my little family lives;

A place filled with love and promises for the future.

Ask the tired working parent me what home means

And I will tell you that home is the place where my spouse and teenagers live.

The place I go every day after work; where things are not perfect anymore.

Where we try to attain those dreams we once had.

Some days it feels we have succeeded, other days...not so much.

Ask the empty nester me what home means

And I will tell you that it is now only the place where we reside, my spouse and I;

Alone with the memories of the life we have lived.

Our children have gone to homes of their own. But they visit;

They visit this home, where the memories of their childhood reside.

***

Ask the new grandparent me what home means

And I will tell you that it is the place where

The cycle starts anew with dreams of the future, filled with hope.

No longer our dreams; for they belong to others.

We dream them often and we again feel what home means.

Every phase of me knows what home means…

Just differently.

*****

Thank you for reading! More of my work can be found here. I hope there is something there for everyone, especially you.