Wednesday, September 29, 2021

What Home Means To Me

My parents have lived in the same house in Pittsburgh since shortly after they got married, which means my sister and I grew up in that house for our entire lives. It is home. I guess it is more figuratively now as I do have my own home and refer to it as my parent's house. But it's still home in a sense. 

We've lived in our home now for almost 2.5 years. I have been so focused on decorating it that I haven't really reflected on what I have created and I hadn't even realized it had been over 2 years already. Time flies. 

I love Nora Jones. The song, 'Peace', came on shuffle the other day. I usually keep music on in the background while I'm on my computer working but don't typically pay attention to the lyrics.

But there was one line I heard her sing and it caught my attention. I restarted the song and Googled the lyrics. The line that caught me was, 'Where the cares of the day seem to slowly fade away, And the glow of the evening sun, Peace when the day is done.'

Now if that is not a good definition of home, I am not sure what is. 

It made me pause and I felt myself reflect on this home. I love being here. Granted, I spent too much time here in 2020/2021, but I am so grateful for the 'homey' feeling I have created here. I had that feeling in my apartment downtown... but this has taken a bit longer to really craft considering it is about 4x the size. 

In the evenings, when my husband and I are done working, and we are having a glass of wine, our home is absolutely flooded with a warm glow from the setting sun. I hear the clunk of the grill lid being closed and the door flying open as my husband brings in our grilled meal. Henry's paws click-clacking on the wood floor hoping to snag a bite of what we are having. As the sun starts to dip, I turn on some of the lamps around our home and that glow from the sun turns into the warmest and coziest lamplight that my wine glass almost sparkles.  

I looked around the other night and realized that I felt exactly what Nora Jones was describing in her song. It's that longing to be home when you're far away or on your way home from a trip or a long day. There is pure elation when I slip into crisp bed sheets, grab a good book, and the warmth of Henry cozied up against me. It is not something you can photograph, but rather a feeling that's somewhat even hard to articulate with words. True peace. In a world where peace is often hard to find, I am so thankful I am able to find it in my home.

And then I realized, that's what I felt when I was growing up at my parent's house. You know when you are younger and you sometimes don't fully appreciate certain things? Now, as an adult, I appreciate it so much that my parents created such a peaceful home. It was the creek of old wood floors, the warmth of the kitchen on cold days, the flag bunting in the summer, the flicker of the candles while we ate dinner out on the back patio, the whirr of the fan in the family room, the rattle of the dishes being put in the dishwasher after dinner, and so much more. 

All this to say that there was no real point to today's post, but just a little bit of a reflection on this place I call home! 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such a lovely description. I did not have this growing up, but it has been wonderful creating this 'homey' feeling with my husband and (hopefully) our future kids.

Katherine McEwen said...

Absolutely love this post...home is a place of peace and comfort!

Anonymous said...

I always think of lamplight when trying to make a place feel more home or cozy. I love shutting off the ceiling lights at night and turning on a few smaller pieces It takes a while to cultivate that 'home' feeling, finding exactly the right furniture and decorations and lighting, but when you finally get it right *sigh*

Melissa said...

I love this post. So beautifully written and so relatable. I took that for granted to, the peace of my parents home growing up and all that was put into crafting that.

Ambrey said...

This was such a gorgeous post! I know exactly the feeling you mean. It's hard to achieve it perfectly in an apartment with roommates, but I'm looking forward to getting there one day.

 

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