visiting home

Ive been gallivanting around the country again but this time I've been home. The place where I grew up.....or fairly close to it anyway! My brother still lives near our childhood home and its always lovely to come back and be reminded of my roots.

It's funny though, because I do now feel that I have several parts of the country that seem like 'home' to me. There's this area here where I grew up, went to school, moved out with a friend, and spent the early part of my mothering years - this is 'home'. My mother moved to the north NSW coast from here about 20 years ago, so when I visit her now I still feel like I'm home simply because that's where my mum is.

We spent 13 years raising our children in a lovely place on the mid-north coast and I think thats where I feel is where I've truly put down roots. It's where I'd choose to live if I had to stay in one place forever!

There's also the home Im currently living in which is in Tasmania. We've been there for almost 10 years and while its grown on me and its my home at the moment, (and Im happy to be going back there tomorrow) it doesn't really feel like Home. I think its been a place to grow and learn and it has many beautiful memories but its not where my heart really is.

And then theres my feeling of home relating to my Austrian heritage. I long to live there for a few years and really get to know my abundance of relatives and I hope to make it a reality sometime in the future.

Perhaps thats always the way. Perhaps we feel at home anywhere we put down a few roots, share some joys, live through some sorrows and make new friends or enjoy family. Maybe its the familiarity of a place that makes it homier. The more you spend time there meeting people and seeing familiar faces, the better you feel about it. Maybe thats the key. The people.

Yes, it is for me.

How about you?