Concept of Home
I saw a quote the other night that said “I’m homesick for a place that no longer exists” and it gutted me. As I’m moving, I’m having all of the feelings and memories come up from past places and days gone by.
My first though was of my grandparent’s house. When my gramma died in 2023, the house was sold. Since then, it was sold again and then the outside was completely changed. The house is structurally the same, but the feeling is different and it was a little hard to handle. I think back and the majority of my good memories of my youth come from that home. The Christmas tree, the big kitchen I learned to cook in, and staying up all night watching satellite TV. I miss it, what it meant, and the people who lived there so much. Their house was one big concept of home for me.
I’m also taken back to where my aunt and uncle lived in Northern Michigan, and how many good times I had out there. Follow that up with my own childhood home and the family cottage we still have. Change is inevitable, and I love and hate that. As I gear up to move, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of home.
One of my favorite quotes from Disney’s the Lion King is when Pumbaa says “home is where your rump rests” to Simba. I have moved a lot over the years - first from my childhood land to college which was at least 10 places in and of itself. I went to Texas and lived in many homes there with a quick stop in New Mexico landing in the PNW and now Ohio. Next month I’ll be in Minnesota, for hopefully a long time. The concept of home is abstract for me now, which means I’ve always carried it with me. I long for stability, but I often question what that means for me. I like to travel, I like to see and experience new things, so I want a nice home base so I can continue take pieces of home with me wherever I go. Maybe Minnesota is the home base I’ve been looking for all of these years. I can’t wait to take all of my concepts of home and plant my ass on the shores of Lake Superior.
Me, on my first ever visit to Duluth, MN. This beach will be home in a month!