There's a nip in the air and the leaves are starting to change colors! My favorite season is here! Time to break out the warmer jackets, sweaters and jeans. Put away the Crocs, break out the soccer cleats! It's time for planning apple and pumpkin picking trips, playing in leaf piles, crunching leaves and apples, starting to settle in for the colder months and baking all things apple. Notice a theme in that paragraph?
Years ago, when my husband and I lived in Detroit, we started the yearly tradition of apple and pumpkin picking. There have been a couple of years where, for one reason or another, we have not been able to actually pick our apples and pumpkins from the orchard or field. For example: last year, my husband was not feeling 100%, and we had a nursing 2 month old ("You can go apple picking with a nursing 2 month old!", you say? Read on). But, we have still gone to a stand or apple store to gather our bounty for the annual apple creations. This year, we're hoping to visit a place in OH that has both U-pick apples AND pumpkins (the closest ones in PA are about an hour and a half away! See where the nursing 2 month old bit could be a bit of an issue?). And oh boy and am I looking forward to the treats we'll make with those apples! Apple sauce! Apple fritters! Apple muffins! And my favorite: Apple crisp! Tender apples, warm and gooey, with a sweet, brown sugary crunch on top. Perfect right out of the oven for desert, or warmed in the microwave for breakfast. Can. Not. Be. Beat. I'd love to share the recipe with you, but I'm afraid I'd risk copyright infringement. You'll just have to take my word for it! :o)
We got this fantastic little book at an orchard we went to in Michigan (I don't remember the name of it, sorry!) that has our tried and true recipes that we use every year. Needless to say, it is well loved and our favorites are marked with sticky notes. Definitely a book to hand down. Here's the name of the cookbook: Apples! Apples! Apples! Cooking with Apples by M. Mosley, published and distributed by Hearts & Tummies Cookbook Co. (a division of Quixote Press). You may be able to find it at your local orchard!
Happy apple and pumpkin picking!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Theatre Widow
Three to four times a school year, and sometimes 2 - 3 months a summer, I become what is known as a "Theatre Widow". What is a theatre widow (or widower, but for the sake of this blog, we'll use widow)? A theatre widow is a woman (or man, if it's widower) who is in a significant relationship with a person who is in the theatre business. "How does just that fact alone widow you?", you ask? When a show is close to premiering, cast, crew and production staff go into what is called "Tech Week(s)". This is where they hammer out all the final details of the performance: any changes to stage blocking, the lights are hung and focused, set pieces are completed (some are drying as the opening curtain rises), sound cues are checked and rehearsals go into overtime as everyone works to make sure all the components work together well. This takes hours. Theatre is not a 9 - 5 gig. So, during those time of tech hell, my husband is virtually invisible. We'll see him in the morning as we're getting ready and that's the last time the kids will see him before the following morning. I'm lucky if I see him before I go to bed! He's not here = I'm theatre widowed. As my background is also in theatre, I have experienced all facets of production and tech as well, so I know what to expect and what's going on, but it certainly doesn't make me miss him any less.
Currently, I am theatre widowed. And I'm going back to work, which means the baby has started day care. And (FINALLY) our son starts back to school on Monday, but I had to have someone watch him this week, so I had to take him there too. This mama has been busting her hump this week (and I will most of next week too), single-handedly, and all the stuff that needs to get done, mostly got done (finding our son's lost shin guard did not happen, much to husband's chagrin). Kids were fed, clothed, bathed, and entertained; dishes got done; and even some laundry made it through the washer AND dryer. However, the house is in somewhat of a disarray. I have never claimed to be the best Susie Homemaker, even when husband is home! I feel for the mamas who are single all the time. These times make me grateful for all the times I'm not widowed, but they also remind and empower me that I can do it. I may not be the perfect theatre widow/single mom, but I do the best I can, all in the name of entertainment.
So, next time you go to see a show: high school (don't forget all those teachers who take time away from their families to work with those kids!), college, community, regional, professional, whatever, think about those who have worked tirelessly to entertain you, and their families who have not seen them for any significant amount of time. Yes, it's a life choice, but so is any career. And my husband loves it. I get bragging rights: "Yes, my husband designed the show! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!" Enjoy the show!
Currently, I am theatre widowed. And I'm going back to work, which means the baby has started day care. And (FINALLY) our son starts back to school on Monday, but I had to have someone watch him this week, so I had to take him there too. This mama has been busting her hump this week (and I will most of next week too), single-handedly, and all the stuff that needs to get done, mostly got done (finding our son's lost shin guard did not happen, much to husband's chagrin). Kids were fed, clothed, bathed, and entertained; dishes got done; and even some laundry made it through the washer AND dryer. However, the house is in somewhat of a disarray. I have never claimed to be the best Susie Homemaker, even when husband is home! I feel for the mamas who are single all the time. These times make me grateful for all the times I'm not widowed, but they also remind and empower me that I can do it. I may not be the perfect theatre widow/single mom, but I do the best I can, all in the name of entertainment.
So, next time you go to see a show: high school (don't forget all those teachers who take time away from their families to work with those kids!), college, community, regional, professional, whatever, think about those who have worked tirelessly to entertain you, and their families who have not seen them for any significant amount of time. Yes, it's a life choice, but so is any career. And my husband loves it. I get bragging rights: "Yes, my husband designed the show! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!" Enjoy the show!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Bring on the crunchy leaves!
Ah, the end of another summer has come and the school is coming back. I can hear the college kids now. Seriously. I can. I can hear them walking and talking (loudly) at the top of the street. There's a frat house down the road. Woo-hoo!
Are your kids ready to go back to school? Mine is! I asked him why and he said he misses his friends. We were able to go and see his classroom, meet his teacher and he got to see who is in his class this year. It was fun and nice to have a point of reference with the classroom for when he comes home and tells me where he sits, where he goes for reading or math groups, where Suzie Q puked after drinking her milk too fast and then spinning, etc.
Now, are YOU ready for your kids to go back to school? I AM! I love my kids to pieces, and I know there are moms out there who are sad when their kids go back to school. Don't get me wrong, I'll be sad that summer is over and that he's getting on the bus again, but he thrives in the educational environment. I can push him here at home, but it's not the same. It's the structure and social atmosphere that school provides for him that he (and I) loves. I love hearing about his day - when I can get him to tell me about his day! Me: "What did you do at school to day?" Him: "Oh lots of stuff." Me: "Like?" Him: "I don't know!" Me: (continuing to pull the teeth) "Well, what special did you have? Who did you play with at recess? Did you have reading groups today?" Him: "Yeah." And Mommy goes to find a wall to beat her head against.
Our son finished his summer reading program we put together and he and his dad went to spend a day at the Little League World Series last Sunday! They both had a great time, and we'd like to go as a family in the future. Apparently, there are lots of campsites nearby and that's something else we've been wanting to do as well. He has already asked if we can do this same kind of program for next summer, and considering the success we had this summer, I am all for it! Let's see how we can up the ante!
I hope your summers have been relaxing, entertaining, and as long as you've needed. Time to lace up the new school shoes and get this next school year started!
Are your kids ready to go back to school? Mine is! I asked him why and he said he misses his friends. We were able to go and see his classroom, meet his teacher and he got to see who is in his class this year. It was fun and nice to have a point of reference with the classroom for when he comes home and tells me where he sits, where he goes for reading or math groups, where Suzie Q puked after drinking her milk too fast and then spinning, etc.
Now, are YOU ready for your kids to go back to school? I AM! I love my kids to pieces, and I know there are moms out there who are sad when their kids go back to school. Don't get me wrong, I'll be sad that summer is over and that he's getting on the bus again, but he thrives in the educational environment. I can push him here at home, but it's not the same. It's the structure and social atmosphere that school provides for him that he (and I) loves. I love hearing about his day - when I can get him to tell me about his day! Me: "What did you do at school to day?" Him: "Oh lots of stuff." Me: "Like?" Him: "I don't know!" Me: (continuing to pull the teeth) "Well, what special did you have? Who did you play with at recess? Did you have reading groups today?" Him: "Yeah." And Mommy goes to find a wall to beat her head against.
Our son finished his summer reading program we put together and he and his dad went to spend a day at the Little League World Series last Sunday! They both had a great time, and we'd like to go as a family in the future. Apparently, there are lots of campsites nearby and that's something else we've been wanting to do as well. He has already asked if we can do this same kind of program for next summer, and considering the success we had this summer, I am all for it! Let's see how we can up the ante!
I hope your summers have been relaxing, entertaining, and as long as you've needed. Time to lace up the new school shoes and get this next school year started!
Monday, July 16, 2012
'Cause you gotta have faith!
Faith. That's a very complicated word. When I was in high school, I was very involved in our church's youth group. Every year, the 8th graders who were going to be confirmed went on a confirmation retreat. My senior year, our youth minister asked me to be one of the presenters on the retreat and she gave me the topic of faith. I had been struggling to come to grips with my own faith, questioning everything I had been taught in my years of Catholic school education. My youth minister, smart woman that she is, knew this and I told her I didn't think I would be the right person to give this talk to impressionable eighth graders. She insisted I was the right person for the job.
So, I thought about what I should say and wrote it down. I picked a song that spoke to me on the topic, bought a candle from Bath & Body Works (Sun Ripened Raspberry) and gave instructions on how I wanted to make my entrance (I'm a dramatic person - I wanted to make an impressionable entrance!). I was in a back room, trying to throw together a poster for my talk and waiting for my turn, thinking about what I was going to say, when God smacked me on the head, a la Gibbs (NCIS reference) - I needed to speak from the heart, not the paper. I was going to wing it.
My youth minister came back and told me they were ready. I asked her to turn off the lights and to please turn on my song after I sat down. I walked out with my candle and lighter, sat down, lit the candle and the song began to play, Celine Dion's "Because You Loved me".
So, I thought about what I should say and wrote it down. I picked a song that spoke to me on the topic, bought a candle from Bath & Body Works (Sun Ripened Raspberry) and gave instructions on how I wanted to make my entrance (I'm a dramatic person - I wanted to make an impressionable entrance!). I was in a back room, trying to throw together a poster for my talk and waiting for my turn, thinking about what I was going to say, when God smacked me on the head, a la Gibbs (NCIS reference) - I needed to speak from the heart, not the paper. I was going to wing it.
My youth minister came back and told me they were ready. I asked her to turn off the lights and to please turn on my song after I sat down. I walked out with my candle and lighter, sat down, lit the candle and the song began to play, Celine Dion's "Because You Loved me".
I stared at the flame in my hand, listened to the words and when the line "I lost my faith, you gave it back to me" played, tears rolled down my cheeks. I was crying in front of a bunch of 8th graders. I heard not one snicker or giggle. When the song was over, the lights came up, and I began to speak, praying I would say what they needed to hear, and not scar any of them, or say the wrong thing and get into trouble. I like to think they got it.
Faith is believing in something. Nobody can tell you what to believe in. Faith is deeply personal. You have to discover it for yourself. I told those kids that I struggled with my faith and that it's not a one and done kind of thing, it is constantly evolving. I'm still evolving. My struggle comes with organized religion and what to teach our kids. I am what is commonly referred to as a "Recovering Catholic". I won't go into the whys of it all, but being taught that only the Catholic way is the right way just didn't sit right with me once I learned there were more faiths and beliefs than just Catholic.
My personal faith is in a higher being that I call God, but can go by many names: God, Goddess, Lord, Lady, Allah and the list goes on. And each higher being's name has significance to the person using it. My faith is not defined by any one religion's precepts or guidelines. Faith is a deeply personal concept and I wouldn't expect anyone to believe exactly what I believe. When it comes to faith or religion, I think it is dangerous not to think for oneself. To follow one religion's specific decrees without thinking about what they mean, in my opinion, is doing a disservice to oneself and the religion. For those who struggle with faith, I would encourage them to pray, meditate, think, whatever word you want to use for being introspective, and discover for themselves, with their higher being, what their own faith is. Not what some person told them to believe.
My personal faith is in a higher being that I call God, but can go by many names: God, Goddess, Lord, Lady, Allah and the list goes on. And each higher being's name has significance to the person using it. My faith is not defined by any one religion's precepts or guidelines. Faith is a deeply personal concept and I wouldn't expect anyone to believe exactly what I believe. When it comes to faith or religion, I think it is dangerous not to think for oneself. To follow one religion's specific decrees without thinking about what they mean, in my opinion, is doing a disservice to oneself and the religion. For those who struggle with faith, I would encourage them to pray, meditate, think, whatever word you want to use for being introspective, and discover for themselves, with their higher being, what their own faith is. Not what some person told them to believe.
By the way, I didn't get into trouble. And that youth minister: one of the greatest, and faith filled people you will ever meet. Period. :o)
Saturday, July 7, 2012
"Havin' a heat wave!
A tropical heat wave! With the temperature risin', it isn't surprisin', you certainly can, Can-can!" Never understood what having a heat wave had to do with doing the Can-can, but I can tell you I'M not going to be doing the Can-can in this heat!
I hope everyone is staying as cool as possible. If you have AC, count your blessings! If you're like us and don't have AC, I hope you have lots of fans, ice cream/Popsicles and access to a pool or sprinkler of sorts. Please make sure you are drinking plenty of water (yes, it counts if you use those drink powders like Crystal Light to flavor your water - it's still water)!
I've culled the internet and picked my friend's brains and I've gathered some keeping cool tips for you.
1) Keep your windows closed during the day and open them at night, if it's cooler outside than in the house.
2) Close the blinds during the day too, to keep the sun from heating up your house.
3) One site suggested turning off ceiling fans when you leave the room, as they cool off people, not rooms. My thought is that ceiling fans also help to circulate air, so if you have the doors to those rooms open, hopefully any cooler air around them will also be pulled into the room.
4) We do this in the evening, when it's cooler outside: open a window at either end of the room/area and put one fan in each window, one facing in and one facing out - one to pull in cooler air from outside, and one to pull it across the room.
5) Don't cook! Eat salads, sandwiches, cereal, take out, whatever you can to keep the stove/toaster/microwave off.
6) Turn off the lights - those buggers can give off quite a bit of heat!
7) Take a shower with your clothes on/put on a wet t-shirt/drape a wet towel around your shoulders - you get the idea.
8) Stay still - read a book, watch t.v., talk with friends, play a board game, write, etc.
Here are some tips that require a bit more time, forethought and dinero:
1) Strategically plant trees so their shade blocks the sun from entering the house.
2) Insulate your roof.
3) Install awnings over the windows.
What do you do to stay cool?
I hope everyone is staying as cool as possible. If you have AC, count your blessings! If you're like us and don't have AC, I hope you have lots of fans, ice cream/Popsicles and access to a pool or sprinkler of sorts. Please make sure you are drinking plenty of water (yes, it counts if you use those drink powders like Crystal Light to flavor your water - it's still water)!
I've culled the internet and picked my friend's brains and I've gathered some keeping cool tips for you.
1) Keep your windows closed during the day and open them at night, if it's cooler outside than in the house.
2) Close the blinds during the day too, to keep the sun from heating up your house.
3) One site suggested turning off ceiling fans when you leave the room, as they cool off people, not rooms. My thought is that ceiling fans also help to circulate air, so if you have the doors to those rooms open, hopefully any cooler air around them will also be pulled into the room.
4) We do this in the evening, when it's cooler outside: open a window at either end of the room/area and put one fan in each window, one facing in and one facing out - one to pull in cooler air from outside, and one to pull it across the room.
5) Don't cook! Eat salads, sandwiches, cereal, take out, whatever you can to keep the stove/toaster/microwave off.
6) Turn off the lights - those buggers can give off quite a bit of heat!
7) Take a shower with your clothes on/put on a wet t-shirt/drape a wet towel around your shoulders - you get the idea.
8) Stay still - read a book, watch t.v., talk with friends, play a board game, write, etc.
Here are some tips that require a bit more time, forethought and dinero:
1) Strategically plant trees so their shade blocks the sun from entering the house.
2) Insulate your roof.
3) Install awnings over the windows.
What do you do to stay cool?
Monday, June 25, 2012
Summer fun and reading!
Well, our summer is off to a great start (and I hope it keeps up!)! T-ball season has ended, and our little family of four had a fantastic time making some new friends and enjoying the weather. We were actually sad to see the season end we were all having so much fun! We have spent some time at the pool, when we had a few really warm days the past couple of weeks, and we're hoping to get in a couple more this week when it heats up again.
The kids and I headed to NoVa this past week when my mom surprised us with gas money for the trip! We had a great time! We were bummed we weren't able to visit my husband's family in Va. Beach or our friends in Lynchburg, but we enjoyed the time we had with my family and one of my friends from high school and her family. We were able to celebrate Father's Day with my dad and we celebrated my sister's birthday with a tour around a couple of wineries! If you are ever in the Warrenton area, I highly recommend taking the whole family to Pearmund Cellars - beautiful setting, lawn games for the whole family, fire pits, lots of space for picnicking and running the kids, and the wine is really good too! Here's a link to their website:
http://www.pearmundcellars.com/
This week finds our son participating in sports camp at a local church in the mornings, as well as VBS (Vacation Bible School) with a couple of friends from t-ball in the evenings. He's going to be a very busy, happy and tired little boy come Saturday! Yea! Next month he will start theatre camp, which my husband is also helping with.
On top of all this, we have started our own reading program, since I couldn't find one in the area (our local public library had an adult reading program, but no kids?! I'm not impressed with our local library; very disappointed!). So, here's the deal: our son needs to read 12 Mom approved chapter books (he's chosen to go with the Magic Tree House series) by the time the Little League World Series starts August 16. If he does read 12 chapter books by then, my husband will take him to the LLWS for a day and get a t-shirt. Any chapter books he reads past 12 earns him $1/book that he can spend however he likes while at the LLWS. He has two charts: one to track the chapters in the books and one to track the books.
The chapter tracking chart.
The book tracking chart.
Each chapter he reads earns him a sticker on The Line Up chart (we're working the baseball theme!). Every time he finishes a book, he adds a Pokemon character sticker (he loves Pokemon) to the baseball diamond, where each book is a position on the field (we needed to take some liberties with baseball positions to get to 12!). If he reads more than 12, then those characters will form the dugout and we'll be able to keep track of how much extra he gets for the day at the games. Since our son is a visual and tactile/kinesthetic learner, this is a great tool for him! I also created 3 individual month calendars so he can cross off each day that has past and can see how much time he has left to reach his goal, again in keeping with his particular learning styles. So far, he has read 2 books and is almost done with his 3rd. Considering all the things we've been doing so far this summer, I think he's off to a pretty good start!
We also added a challenge for him: reading in his head. Since he's been learning to read, he's been reading out loud, which is age and skill appropriate. We feel he has reached a point that he is good enough of a reader to start learning to read silently to himself. However, we also want to make sure he's really understanding what he's reading when he reads like this. So, since the chapters are relatively short in these books, when he has finished a chapter, we skim it to get the bulk of what happened (takes about a minute, if that) then ask him questions about what happened. If he struggles to answer our questions, we have him go back and read it again, sometimes out loud, to figure out what really happened in the story.
We are all excited about this reading challenge, and seeing our son reach his goal and go to the LLWS! I hope our little program has inspired you to create your own! The goal is to make summer reading fun, yet challenging and meaningful. Take your child's skill level, learning styles and interests into account, as well as how much time you think they will be able to devote to the program. Make the goal(s) realistic and attainable, and the reward something that will really stay with them as a great summer memory. Happy summer reading!
*Post publishing note: Thank you to a friend of mine in the area for sending me the link to the local public library's summer reading program. It appears they posted their program on their website a couple of days after I went looking for it! I think we'll stick with our program for this summer, since we've already started it!*
The kids and I headed to NoVa this past week when my mom surprised us with gas money for the trip! We had a great time! We were bummed we weren't able to visit my husband's family in Va. Beach or our friends in Lynchburg, but we enjoyed the time we had with my family and one of my friends from high school and her family. We were able to celebrate Father's Day with my dad and we celebrated my sister's birthday with a tour around a couple of wineries! If you are ever in the Warrenton area, I highly recommend taking the whole family to Pearmund Cellars - beautiful setting, lawn games for the whole family, fire pits, lots of space for picnicking and running the kids, and the wine is really good too! Here's a link to their website:
http://www.pearmundcellars.com/
This week finds our son participating in sports camp at a local church in the mornings, as well as VBS (Vacation Bible School) with a couple of friends from t-ball in the evenings. He's going to be a very busy, happy and tired little boy come Saturday! Yea! Next month he will start theatre camp, which my husband is also helping with.
On top of all this, we have started our own reading program, since I couldn't find one in the area (our local public library had an adult reading program, but no kids?! I'm not impressed with our local library; very disappointed!). So, here's the deal: our son needs to read 12 Mom approved chapter books (he's chosen to go with the Magic Tree House series) by the time the Little League World Series starts August 16. If he does read 12 chapter books by then, my husband will take him to the LLWS for a day and get a t-shirt. Any chapter books he reads past 12 earns him $1/book that he can spend however he likes while at the LLWS. He has two charts: one to track the chapters in the books and one to track the books.
Each chapter he reads earns him a sticker on The Line Up chart (we're working the baseball theme!). Every time he finishes a book, he adds a Pokemon character sticker (he loves Pokemon) to the baseball diamond, where each book is a position on the field (we needed to take some liberties with baseball positions to get to 12!). If he reads more than 12, then those characters will form the dugout and we'll be able to keep track of how much extra he gets for the day at the games. Since our son is a visual and tactile/kinesthetic learner, this is a great tool for him! I also created 3 individual month calendars so he can cross off each day that has past and can see how much time he has left to reach his goal, again in keeping with his particular learning styles. So far, he has read 2 books and is almost done with his 3rd. Considering all the things we've been doing so far this summer, I think he's off to a pretty good start!
We also added a challenge for him: reading in his head. Since he's been learning to read, he's been reading out loud, which is age and skill appropriate. We feel he has reached a point that he is good enough of a reader to start learning to read silently to himself. However, we also want to make sure he's really understanding what he's reading when he reads like this. So, since the chapters are relatively short in these books, when he has finished a chapter, we skim it to get the bulk of what happened (takes about a minute, if that) then ask him questions about what happened. If he struggles to answer our questions, we have him go back and read it again, sometimes out loud, to figure out what really happened in the story.
We are all excited about this reading challenge, and seeing our son reach his goal and go to the LLWS! I hope our little program has inspired you to create your own! The goal is to make summer reading fun, yet challenging and meaningful. Take your child's skill level, learning styles and interests into account, as well as how much time you think they will be able to devote to the program. Make the goal(s) realistic and attainable, and the reward something that will really stay with them as a great summer memory. Happy summer reading!
*Post publishing note: Thank you to a friend of mine in the area for sending me the link to the local public library's summer reading program. It appears they posted their program on their website a couple of days after I went looking for it! I think we'll stick with our program for this summer, since we've already started it!*
Monday, June 4, 2012
"Home" is...?
As kids, home was where our caregivers, bed and favorite toys were. As college students, home was where we went to during breaks (if we weren't going off into the big world). As adults, I think the word "home" has many different definitions.
In the past 12 years, I have lived in 7 different places: Alexandria, VA; Va. Beach, VA; Detroit, MI; South Bend, IN; Brevard, NC; Lynchburg, VA and now PA. Out of those 7 places, I can honestly say I could only call 4 of them "home". And that number doesn't include Portland, OR, which I also consider "home", even though the longest I've ever lived there was 3 weeks (in kindergarten!). What is it about those places that made them home to me? I've done a lot of thinking on this and here is what I have come to believe my definition of "home" is.
Home is:
Where your loved ones are.
Where you can be who you are, without fear of judgement.
Where you have community.
Where your social, emotional and basic human needs are met.
So, why did only 4 out of 7 (plus Portland) make the list? Because only 4 out of 7 (plus Portland) met all four criteria. I grew up in Alexandria, so that was my first definition of home. Virginia Beach, even though I only lived there for 9 months, had family (my husband's), we had close friends that formed our community, I could be "me" with those friends and family, and all my social, emotional and basic needs were met. Same with Detroit, South Bend and Portland. Even though Detroit and South Bend didn't have direct access to extended family, I had my husband (and our son was born in South Bend) and friends who became our family. That's not to say that the other 3 places didn't meet some of the criteria, but to be considered home, in my mind, ALL the points need to be met. I've been in PA less than a year, so the jury is still out, but right now, I can't call PA "home" just yet (the fracking is impeding on the basic human needs portion, so PA might be a lost cause, but we'll see) .
What's your definition of home? Leave a comment if you like!
In the past 12 years, I have lived in 7 different places: Alexandria, VA; Va. Beach, VA; Detroit, MI; South Bend, IN; Brevard, NC; Lynchburg, VA and now PA. Out of those 7 places, I can honestly say I could only call 4 of them "home". And that number doesn't include Portland, OR, which I also consider "home", even though the longest I've ever lived there was 3 weeks (in kindergarten!). What is it about those places that made them home to me? I've done a lot of thinking on this and here is what I have come to believe my definition of "home" is.
Home is:
Where your loved ones are.
Where you can be who you are, without fear of judgement.
Where you have community.
Where your social, emotional and basic human needs are met.
So, why did only 4 out of 7 (plus Portland) make the list? Because only 4 out of 7 (plus Portland) met all four criteria. I grew up in Alexandria, so that was my first definition of home. Virginia Beach, even though I only lived there for 9 months, had family (my husband's), we had close friends that formed our community, I could be "me" with those friends and family, and all my social, emotional and basic needs were met. Same with Detroit, South Bend and Portland. Even though Detroit and South Bend didn't have direct access to extended family, I had my husband (and our son was born in South Bend) and friends who became our family. That's not to say that the other 3 places didn't meet some of the criteria, but to be considered home, in my mind, ALL the points need to be met. I've been in PA less than a year, so the jury is still out, but right now, I can't call PA "home" just yet (the fracking is impeding on the basic human needs portion, so PA might be a lost cause, but we'll see) .
What's your definition of home? Leave a comment if you like!
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