The Sweetest Place

Winter is definitely with us.  I feel it in my toes and the tip of my nose.  It is during these cold months that I am filled with such gratitude for the privilege of having a house, a home.  So many people are not so fortunate.  Many find themselves destitute, not knowing where next they will find shelter.

I remember many years ago, my youngest asked me "Where do butterflies live, Mommy?"   At that time her favourite movie was "Land Before Time", so it was an easy answer - "Right there in the valley with the Long Necks".  That answer was quite to her satisfaction, but if I really had to answer her, the answer would have been, I don't have a clue.  Birds have nests, bees have hives and rabbits have burrows, but butterflies?  I only ever see them flying joyfully from flower to flower.  Maybe their lives are too short to find the time to also go back to a home somewhere, so I think their home is right there where they are. 

We all have houses, some small, some massive, some humble, some majestic.  Whatever its size, one thing that is true is the saying "Home Sweet Home".  Ask any traveler, any holiday maker, what the best thing about travelling is and the thoughtful ones will say "going home".  Is it going home to bricks and mortar, wood and trusses?  No, it's going to that place where we belong, a place of warmth and acceptance, a place that folds around us like a favourite blanket.  Home is my family, their love, their smiles, their happy chatter.  Home is my hand in my husband's, hugs from my daughters, the smell of toast.  Home is that one-of-a-kind place where I can just be me and I am loved for that very reason, the uniqueness of 'me'.  Home is right there where my heart is, the center of my being, and that center is my family, they are the ones that give me my warm fuzzy feeling.   When I think about 'home', I think about them.  I think about walks at twilight, movie nights and breakfast table talks.  Their smiles are the wide-open front door welcoming me home.  I am never far from home, because home is where I have my memories. 

If you flutter by here, share your memories of your 'home' with me.  Just click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.