Home

How many places can be called 'home' by one person?

I am officially on my second week of vacation (don't worry, I plan to blog extensively about my first week) and have just nicely arrived at Camp Edgewood to hang out for the week. There's no one here aside from myself, the head lifeguard, the program coordinator, and the camp director (but I haven't even seen him yet). The camp is empty and quiet - just the way I like it!

It occurred to me, as I was meandering around in the dark with nothing but a cheap flashlight to guide my way (and believe me when I say it is DARK here with all the lights off!), that I'm very comfortable with this place; I enjoy being here; there is a familiarity here that I crave. This is home.

I have a lot of homes; places which are safe and comfortable, where I can just be me and don't have to worry about impressing anyone. My apartment obviously is my home - and that space is ALL mine to do with what I please! My parent's place will always be home; my mom still feeds me even when I show up unannounced, and my dad & I 'bond' in front of the tv with our eyes closed on Sunday afternoons. Church is home: the people there watched me grow up; maybe we only ever talk about the weather, but they're still family. My friends' homes are mine too - 'entertaining' me certainly isn't necessary in those homes, it's all about just being in the presence of people I care about.

People talk about having a second home; I'm lucky enough to have a third, forth, fifth... Home obviously isn't a concrete location, but a place filled with comforts and memories and friends and family and goodness. Like the song says, 'Home is where the heart is, so your real home is in your chest'. So... I guess the moral to the story is... be like a turtle and take your home with you.
:P