Since leaving Montrose, nine months ago, we’ve had the opportunity to try on many different homes:
What’s Home feel like in Lafayette, Indiana? Norfolk, Virginia? Oriental, North Carolina?
What’s Home like with three kids?
Is Home on a sailboat?
Is it where you grew up?
Is Home a tangible thing?
Is it a box made of brick and drywall or is it people?
Does Home have a shape and color?
Is it a geographic location?
Can Home move?
Can it expand? Retract?
For the past month, Stéphane and I got the chance to try on Home where I grew up.
We had a blast.
Crossword puzzles, countless euchre games; evenings on the couch in the den, mom and I critiquing House Hunters and House Hunters International (“did she really just say that?!?)
Eating, drinking, rooting on the Tigers and the Red Wings.
Doing the things in Detroit that we can’t do in Montrose: sit in traffic, take pictures of things that are “Made In Detroit”, eat gyros and eggs.
Bananagrams on the deck, feeding the chiminea, texting Dan to remind him about how he blew up the previous chiminea when he was sixteen.
Grilling in the rain
Eating expertly-grilled meats!
Shopping for and planting flowers with mom, enjoying the comfortably warm, Michigan April weather.
Our very first ever – and then a second – euchre tournament courtesy of the Katalpa Club (I WON the second euchre tournament!)
Spending some fun times with our soon-to-be new sister-in-law, Ryan; hanging with Pete.
Watching for the wild cat to come out from under the deck every evening at five before eight (seriously, the cat was like clockwork).
Drinking Chianti out of the wee glass; everyone telling dad to quit putting snacks on the table because we JUST ATE dinner and NO, we are not hungry!
Enjoying the familiar, happy, colorful surroundings.
Spending time with the women in my life I don’t get to see enough of.
And then, having to say goodbye.
Collecting our belongings again, packing them again, moving on, again.
And now we’re back in Montrose, so excited to be here again. But is it Home? What is Home, again?
Home is a fuzzy yellow lab you left behind and you weren’t sure she’d remember you, but she did.
Home is Fribourg, St. Clair Shores, Yvonne & Fabio & little Antonio. Home is Tom & Melisa, Dan & Karen. Home is Jurg & Maria; Pete & Ryan; Debbie & Marty; Silivia-StephanO-Thierry-Anthony. It’s Vicki & Jonno, Sally & Jeff, Cindy. It’s Grams.
Home is The Little House. Home was Free Range. Home is lots of things. But mostly, Home is wherever we are, as long we we’re together.
Thank you my sweetheart daughter so well addressed !!. Mom and i have always focused on home and family. i was so happy to steal her away at Seventeen (my queen) !!!! all my love dad
So we’ll written Sara! You have a talent that’s to be sure. I get goosebumps every time I read your posts. Annnnd, just to set the record straight, I was merely testing out the structural fortitude of that chiminea for dad…..
The Grizz (Winnebago View - active duty)
1,800 miles and counting
The Hungry hippo (Popup camper - retired)
1,200 miles
The Gruffalo (Tow behind camper - retired):
12,000 miles and counting
The Baby Bison (Tow behind toy hauler - retired):
7000+ miles
Maine > New Mexico + adventures in between
The Great White Buffalo (5th wheel camper - retired):
3,000 miles
Free Range (Slocum 37 sailboat - resting; getting overhauled in Nova Scotia):
Traveled 2,400 nautical miles from Oriental, NC > Antigua (end of the road).
You’ve had quite a blast. Send me your new contact info when you get settled in.
You gave me the free HP cartridge.
Sara, what a beautiful piece you wrote. It created a few tears here. Love you guys.
Thank you my sweetheart daughter so well addressed !!. Mom and i have always focused on home and family. i was so happy to steal her away at Seventeen (my queen) !!!! all my love dad
So we’ll written Sara! You have a talent that’s to be sure. I get goosebumps every time I read your posts. Annnnd, just to set the record straight, I was merely testing out the structural fortitude of that chiminea for dad…..
…. With gasoline.
Mwuahahahahah