Blog, SoCS

SoCS – Home Sweet Home

Maggie

It’s Saturday morning and time for SoCS again hosted, as always, by the lovely Linda Hill.

If you want to join in, head over to Linda’s and get the scoop on the rules. Here’s the subject for the day.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “home.” Use it as a noun, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. Enjoy!

Home is such a far reaching word. It is used for so many different things. Computers, video games, GPS, sports, places, and of course our hearts.

I have lived in houses that we’re never homes. It takes a special magic to turn a house into a home. We lived in several different places in Florida, but there were only two houses that felt like home. 

It comes down to the sharing of that space and how we choose to live within those walls I think. Houses teeming with memories are easily turned in to homes. And if the old adage is true, home truly is where the heart is.

I remember well the day we told our grandson we were selling our house in Florida. It upset him so much it broke my heart. It was the place he came every summer starting when he was only four years old. Now that he is almost 21, he may not even remember it, but I sure do. 

I look back on my life with my nuclear family. We lived in four different houses, but the place that always felt like home was the Valley. I am so sad my grandmother’s house is not in our family anymore, but in a way it’s okay. The memories were slowllyerased over time. The little annoyances of doors that stick, and mars on the wall and unusual wall coverings were slowly remodeled away. When that happened, the house lost it’s soul. It became someone else’s house, not my home. But the Valley? It will always feel like home – the home of my youth.

Even though the Valley feels like home to the little girl in me, we now live in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. It is where the bears, bobcats, foxes, and deer meander through our woody landscape. It is where an always too big Christmas tree goes up every year. It is the house where the grandkids may need to find a seat on the hearth of the fireplace when everyone comes to visit. It is the quiet place where morning light casts its warmth around the room. It is the sometimes too small space where we chose for the next phase of our lives – together, making new memories, and slowly turning this house into a home. 

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20 thoughts on “SoCS – Home Sweet Home”

  1. This is a wonderful post, Maggie. You truly understand what home is.

    The absolute worst building (apartments) I ever lived in is where I lived the first ten years of my life, and, for so many reasons I won’t go into, it will always be home.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Kind of you to say, Dan.

      Planting roots has been a challenge in my life, but finding a home, and building a home was always my biggest joy. (Those 10 years you speak of must have had some special memories).

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Maggie, home for your grandson meant where he felt loved by his grandparents. I’m sure he loves your home in the mountains too because he feels loved their also. A great post.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You are right, of course. It was his escape and he felt so special, I know. He does love this place, too, but of course his age is a factor now, too.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Your new home in the foothills is very impressive, Maggie. I feel that we learn from the places we have lived previously, and then one day what might just have been another place to live becomes our ‘forever home’.
    I feel sure we have found that in our small house here in Beetley.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I am glad you feel at home in Beetley. It always comes through in your writing. And I think you are right about learning from the places where we have lived our lives.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. I didn’t think about it when writing from the prompt, but I have lived in a lot of houses as military kid. It’s nice to settle down and build memories in one place to make it a home. The home you live in now sounds and looks wonderfully cozy.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Military children definitely move a lot and live in such a mixture of types of houses. I am glad you have a sense of permanence now. We love our cozy little house.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. We all should have at least one special place we call home, whether it is now or in the past. Our home base was always my parents house where I grew up. So many memories there, and was so sad when we had to sell it after my dad passed away. Wish we could have somehow kept it.
    Guess it’s best we make any place we live into the best homey home we can. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Losing that place you connect with as home is always tough. I haven’t been in our family home or40 years. If we can take what they gave us and build on it, then we will have what they built.

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