Home is where the heart is.
There is no place like home
A man's home is his castle.
But for me, my favorite quote about home is by Helen Rowland:
Home is any four walls that enclose the right person.
What is home? It is a physical place? Is it a feeing or emotion? Is it a depository of precious memories?
We sold our 'home' in June 2022, after having lived there for almost 25 years. We made a conscious decision to not purchase another house so that we could spend some time roaming the world. In the past 8 months we have been very fortunate, having spent 5 months on Cape Cod, some time in Colorado and Fiji, and the past 2 months in Mexico.
But we have done one thing at each stop: try to make each place our home.
When we lived in Falmouth, and we were out exploring, or at the beach, or shopping at the grocery store, we always referred to our rental house as home. Let's go home. Make sure you stop and get some dinner before heading home. It was our home, and we loved it.
Same for Mexico. Our apartment in Mexico City was our home for one month. The house in Oaxaca was home for 3 weeks. And our current luxurious casa in San Miguel de Allende is our home.
Sure, these temporary stays are not the typical definition of home. We do not own the house, the belongings, the decorations, the furniture. But we use and admire all of it, and we embrace it as it if were ours.
We know our time here is limited, and we do our best to take it all in. We do not want to take for granted our amazing views and our comfy furnishings. We want to appreciate all that is around us, including the near-constant barking of neighborhood dogs and crowing roosters. (Yes, Mexico is a loud place, but that is what makes the experience so different and unique for us.)
I suppose there can be many definitions of home. But for me, home is where I am with Lisa (and where Alex visits us). Home is not a set place. It is a feeling of contentment when you are in a happy place with those you love.
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