I have been thinking quite a bit lately about the word "home" and all that those four little letters imply. Our family is in a transition phase right now and so it has caused me to consider what "home" means. Also my occupation if written out would be homemaker. If I am making this thing called home, it would be beneficial to be able to articulate what home means? Home brings up so many different thoughts and ideas. 

The first being the physical place I am living. As we have moved and left our house called home, I have felt a bit of loss and misplacement. Though as we have now been in our new dwelling place for a while the thought of home is transitioning to this place. I can feel it shifting as we sink into a new routine. As my hands begin to move fluidly in the kitchen to the pots and pans, the silverware drawer, which way the cupboards open, all is adjusting. An occasional spin around the space in a moment of forgetfulness, reminds me that this is new but becoming familiar. 

The second is time and history. Is home the place you have lived the longest or grew up? When I asked my husband his definition of the word, his fist response was, "home is where the heart is" accompanied by a cheesy smile. I am not fond of overused quotes, and he knows this. But after seriously discussing this his answer was "home is where you have lived, made memories, made babies." Now if you know my husband this too was followed by a smile. But as I began thinking of his response the part about home is where you have lived seemed very close to what I consider home to be. Though that seems somewhat obvious, it is getting close to encompassing the whole word. Time does play a role in the definition. I will always refer to Twin Falls as home though we have moved away. Just as that is true, I know Seattle will become home as well, as it has already begun to. 

The third is people. Is home where loved ones are? Yes and no, I believe. If this were entirely true I would have to live in many different states and towns which is completely impossible. But at the same time without the dearest around me I don't think that a place could be called home.    

Home is where you have lived. By lived I don't mean it as a noun, but rather as the verb. Living is the way a place becomes a home. A dwelling place, history, and loved ones are and will develop in this new place. We have lived there we are going to live here and thus both can be described as home. Now I know this is very broad but it makes the loss of the old less harsh knowing that the new will become home. It is a process. As I get to be part of making the Littleton's home, my hope is that we will live well.