I recently saw John Edwards and heard him talk about his new book "Home". The book consists of essays from a variety of people explaining how influencial their home has been to them.
John explained that he got the idea for the book when he was campaigning through South Carolina with John Kerry during the 2004 Presidential Campaign. He was given the opportunity to tour the home he grew up in and said it was a monumental day in his life. Memories that shaped his life came flooding back and he was inspired to share that story with others.
This got me thinking about my home and how it's affected me.
Home is probably most often described as "a place where one lives; a residence"* but for me the structure I lived in never felt like home. My family moved around frequently and I missed out on a lot of the typical things that so many people take for granted. I never had my height marked out on the frame of the kitchen door or stumbled across a box of memories in the garage. I never left for college just to come home during holidays and see all of my childhood friends. It was because of this nomadic lifestyle that I had to create my own 'home' in the different towns I lived in.
To me home became "an environment offering security and happiness.".* A place where I could get away from the stresses of the day and enjoy time by myself. Unfortunately this place changed as often as my address, but in every house I found a new place of refuge.
*dictionary.com
4 comments:
Interesting but true. I wouldn't call the tri-plex in Roseburg 'home' but I guess we managed. It was security especially coming home from a day at Jo Lane.
We moved around a lot when I was growing up too. No place I've lived felt like home, until now. It's not as I dreamt, but it will be, someday.
This is off topic...but if John Edwards wasn't married, I would *totally* make out with him.
Ha! I love it! And I can see why you find him *almost* irresistable. Besides the charm and the accent, he is easy on the eyes too.
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