House and Home

When does a house become a home? What is it that transforms a structure so much? Is it the time spent there? Is it the people in it? Is it the people near it? I have been pondering this question for a lifetime. You see I grew up here.....(Corn country Illinois)



It is beautiful and it defined my childhood. The snow, the change of seasons, the fall colors. I love many of these people whether they love me or not.The people here are "salt of the earth" people. That is not saying I am salt of the earth people, I said "they are salt of the earth people." I am more sand of the earth. Because you see I found myself here.... (Pensacola Beach)



The beach defines me. "Laid back" I love it, everything about it. I lived here for almost a decade and I loved helping people who are visiting find their way around. I loved helping them find a place to eat. Most of all I loved hearing how much they loved my beach. I have been an on again, off again, Church attendee my whole life. But I have always believed in "God". When I am near the water I am nearer to him. I can't explain it, it is just the way I feel. A local radio station had a tag line they used that summed it up best. "Pensacola beach where hundreds of people live like thousands wish they could" People worked 50 weeks a year to visit my hometown for 2 weeks. This made me very proud!

Back to the original question. What makes a house a home? I have lived in many houses, in many places. Not all of them have been homes, most just stop overs until I get home. Each house I have chose for us to live in has been exactly that a "house." We moved back to Illinois for a few years and what happened? I imagine this has happened to many people. Our families were a let down but the people we befriended were wonderful. Our neighbors, co-workers, poker buddies, all became good friends quickly. Don't get me wrong I love these people but there was this big part of me that wasn't present. It was my heart, which was still at the beach. My head had led us to make the right practical decision to return to Illinois (always believing that it would be easy to get back to Pensacola beach. This was my mistake if you have found someplace you love and someone you love hold on to it because it is not as easy to go back as one would think). But my heart had no part of that decision. I have been away from Pensacola Beach now for 5 years, and all 5 I have wished to be back there. You see for me the difference between a house and a home is that the heart has to be involved for a house to become a home. If you don't love it there and the people around you then it will always be just a house. But when it all clicks and your heart is in it, you are home.