Ben, the monsters & I spent the past five days in New Jersey where we both grew-up. It was a our annual "summer trip" to the Jersey Shore to visit the family we both have left in the area. We stayed with my in-laws who were more than accommodating, as we once again successfully destroyed their clean & peaceful home. We do preform this same ritual when we head to Florida and stay with my parents. We destroy & disrupt these houses. And we do this because these are no longer OUR HOMES, this is not where we live. So when we come to town it means we not only visit our parents, but all the extended family we have too!!! And this usually occurs at the host parentʻs home:)
Let me explain. Until very recently, I viewed where my parents lived as "home". It didnʻt matter that my parents moved from NJ to FL or that Benʻs parents didnʻt live in the same house in NJ "home" was the house our parents were living in. I donʻt feel this way anymore. Now, home is Virginia. Home is "The Nut House" where I live with MY FAMILY, with Ben, the monsters, our pups and even our fish:) Home is where the mess gets made and WE have to clean it up. The place that extended family comes to visit us. Where the monsters go to school & where we belong to the community.
New Jersey isnʻt home anymore, it is the place where I grew up. Itʻs a place my family travels to visit our extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins. Just like Florida isnʻt my home, it is my parents home, where we again go to visit our extended family. Our home is in Virginia.
It is a curious feeling to call Virginia Home and an incredible realization that your parents & siblings are now extended family, instead of immediate. It seems odd that Ben & I have lived in the DC metro area for 16 years, our monsters are 9,8 & 6 and I am just now recognizing these changes. I think I have been toying with these thoughts and emotions for sometime, but part of me thought that if I never said(or wrote) it out-loud, some how it wasnʻt real. However, now by making this acknowledgement it means that I am take the final step into adulthood.
I am Home, in Virginia with my family.
1 comment:
I occasionally still call it home, even though my family lives out here near me. I call here home to, but I think I could make home anywhere. It isnt a place for me, it is a feeling. For me it is where I am most comfortable.
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