Home is Where the Heart Is

There’s a contest going on at Twitter Moms, and it struck a chord with me as I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic.

Home.

That’s a loaded word, isn’t it?  Going ‘Home’ for the holidays is a very popular angst ridden topic in pop culture. I’m at an age though, where home no longer means getting on a plane and visiting relatives, home is where I am.  It’s been a long road, but to me, home is my husband and children.  It doesn’t matter much which house we live in, on what street, or even what town.  If we had to, we could move anywhere in the world that there was an interesting opportunity for us. It really would have to be a very interesting, lucrative opportunity however, for us to consider leaving our current city, Ocala as we have somehow, managed to carve out a life for ourselves with some great friends in this town.

We don’t own a home, but we’ve been very lucky to rent quite a few interesting places.  They haven’t always been the smartest thing we could have rented, but we’ve  had great fun and learned quite a bit along the way.  We almost bought a couple of times, but just never got to closing and while I do appreciate the benefits of homeownership, there are a lot of benefits to renting as well.

Last year, we had the opportunity to rent a spectacular house, a real showstopper, a house that I thought was going to be the best place I ever lived.  It’s on 5 gated acres, away from the road, with absolute privacy, 4000 square feet, a huge pool, decks all around the second story, three fireplaces, ginormous walk in closet, hardwood floors, etc., etc., etc.  You know what?  This house feels the least like home of all of our rentals.  Everything I thought I wanted?  Turns out I don’t.  All the space?  I feel like the kids are too far away.  The hardwood floors?  Always look dirty.  5 acres?  Pain in the neck.  Pool?  Well, the pool’s still fabulous.

So now our lease is up and we’re not renewing.  We’re downsizing.  I’m not sorry that we rented this house, as a matter of fact, I’m very glad that we did.  I learned a lot about myself and what I really, authentically want from our home.  I want a house big enough for us to live comfortably, but small enough that we can easily reach out to each other, a house that’s conducive to gathering in a common area.  I want a kitchen that isn’t far from the action in the rest of the house, so that whoever is cooking (read: me) isn’t sequestered away.  I want terrific outdoor space, but I want it protected from the elements, so that we can really use our outdoor space as more living space.  Maybe, most importantly, I’ve learned that I like living in a neighborhood.  I like walking my dogs down the road and waving to my neighbors.  I like knowing that I’m not so secluded, so isolated.  I like, no I need, a sense of community that I don’t have here.  Turns out, I’m a pretty social animal.  And I miss the daily interaction of a neighborhood.  To that end, I’ve been looking for our new digs and I have to say, I’m most grateful for all the knowledge I’ve picked up with our gypsy ways.