I grew up all over the country. My dad was an officer in the Air Force, which meant we moved when the government told us to, no matter whether we wanted to or not. And I can assure you that neither I nor any of my sisters wanted to move every time we did - but we did.
I've no doubt we were a tad bit bratty at times over some of those moves - I'm pretty sure we were, and I recall a certain time when I know I was. It just got to be really hard to move the older we were. Moving during high school years was the worst!
But, having said all that, wherever we lived, that was HOME to us. We lived mostly in base housing, and that was never all that special. What WAS special was the way my mom made each and every house that we called ours, for however a temporary time it was, OUR HOME.
No matter what base, no matter what state, no matter how nice or not-so-nice that house we got was, it was OUR HOME. My parents loved us so much, and made every effort in the world to provide my sisters and I with a place to call home - full of love, fun, family times, memories, and of course all the other growing up stuff that goes on - fights with each other, hair-pulling, you name it - we did it, just like most other siblings.
My mom made the most wonderful homes for us! We were very fortunate that my mom was a stay-at-home mom, which really is just about the hardest job in the world. We always had homecooked meals, made with loads of love, no matter what the food was. She took great care in caring for all of us - me, my sisters and my dad. She loved us fiercely, that's for sure.
By the time I graduated from high school, we had moved 15 times - FIFTEEN times. That meant boxes piled high, unpacking all that stuff, having to get adjusted to yet another new school, having to make new friends (which was very hard for me as I was painfully shy growing up, still am to some degree), getting settled in, and then moving again before we wanted to.
Sometimes those moves involved going back to a base where we'd already lived at one point. But even though we'd already lived there once, most of the people we knew then had been transferred, so we really started all over again with friends and adjusting.
All through every single one of those moves, my mom was a real trooper. Our HOME meant our mom and dad to us - they were there for us all the time, and we always knew that. No matter where we lived, no matter what we had done, they loved us through thick and thin. And we were quite the mischievous group of kids, individually and together.
Our HOME was home to a lot of our friends growing up, too. They all loved coming to our house to hang out, even if we weren't home. They just all seemed to love being around my mom. I can remember many a day when I'd finally get home from some after school thing, and there would be several of our friends, just hanging out with my mom.
What was HOME to us growing up - MY MOM, MY DAD, MY SISTERS - and ALL THAT LOVE...... no matter where in the country we were living. It still is that to each of us now, no matter where each of lives now.
HOME is NOT the four walls within which you live, HOME is all that makes up your life and who you share it with.
And we are the luckiest family in the world! Our HOME is with us wherever we are..........
Read more posts about What Makes a House a Home
Ann Cummings, Maine and New Hampshire REALTOR
RE/MAX Coast to Coast
Portsmouth NH
ann@anncummings.com
888-349-5678 x 3839
Servicing the Coastal Areas of NH & Southern Maine
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