Where Is Home?

We have all heard, home is where the heart is, but I always figured my heart was where I was. I made a big move in January of this year back to the place that felt like home and the only place that really ever felt like home. The weather got bitterly cold like below zero and stayed like that for days. I still was happy that I moved and every day that I spend here, I learn more reasons to be here. I am in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, a huge city. What makes a place feel like home and capture your heart like a lover who makes no effort and has major issues.

I lived in the mountain state of West Virginia, Chicago Illinois and three cities in California. I grew up in country places not big enough to call a town. I went to one of the biggest cities in the World and felt totally at home. I lived in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco all delightful but still did not feel like home. So what makes a place capture our hearts?  I do not know.

I do have sympathy for people who move across oceans and to another country and leave the home they love. I am sure it is hard for most.  I hope many can adjust to their new homes and love them as I did. If I think hard, Ithink  the people who live in the city makes it feel like home, but that is only a part of it. I like the energy and excitement of the city and that may be the biggest part of it. For some reason,  I didn’t mind the horribly cold winters, nor the noise, nor all the concrete. I still was happy and the big city made me happy and satisfied.

I guess home is like a lover, you like what is there and the big flaws you just don’t see or you just don’t mind . Who is in a home they love or do they feel they need to go back or find a new better place? I am happy right now just to be where I am and it is a good feeling. Will I go fickle and feel the need to move somewhere else; I hope not. It is too much work and too expensive to move to another place.  Where is home for you and why?

Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Senior Chatters

Related Articles

Responses

  1. I guess I must be a lucky exception, as for me home is where I lay my head. like you, I have moved around a bit, and always
    sought to maintain friendships living nearly half my life in England, and the last 50 years here in New Zealand and now in my 90’s I doubt if I will travel again, but I do have friends. MaNY OF THEM ON cHATTERS!

    1. Drummer, I love it, good answer. We move for many reasons and home has to be where we lay our heads and that is the way it way with me when I was younger, and I will remember that again. When I travel, I do adapt and try to be at home wherever I lay my head. I have a sister who has been in her home for about 50 years and doesn’t want to leave it though she can barely get up and down the stairs of her 2 story home in the country. Many of us are going to have to make home be where we lay our head but I do hope I can stay where I am. Thank you for sharing and your words are truly wise.

  2. Hi Rose, nice to see you back blogging again, for me home is where I have lived all my life in the same village, I live surrounded by Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood country, when I go into The Peak district Derbyshire about 40 mins away I also feel
    at home, I dislike the cities and hustle and bustle that goes with them, people rushing about their business seem so impersonal, the roads are horrendous and parking even worse……its interesting to go into London and see the points of interest but would I want to live there….not on your life……could I afford to live there no way, so just as well I don’t want too…….I have had holidays abroad but no yearning to live in any other country……Austria was my favourite because of the beautiful scenery, the trees, hills and snow capped mountains…….so I am a country girl through and through….. a lot more personnel interaction in small villages, but of course not all the bright lights, big shops, and eating places you find in the Towns and Cities…….but if I want those I can find them and then return to the slow life of the village…

    1. Starlette. there is a difference between a village and living on a country road. I don’t know how many stores, restaurants, pubs, a village has in which you may live. You may have the best of two worlds, small and large places. For seniors and everyone really, price determines a lot of where we live but seniors are not tied to jobs. I knew an English lady that rented a room in England and had a condo in Spain desiring sunny weather. I just happen to love big cities, but I live 20 miles from downtown and I have a lot of hustle-bustle but I visit the small towns around me often. Thanks for sharing and the site seems to have settled down again and I think more chatting is be done. Good to be back again.

  3. Rose, What a lovely condo . Like you my home was Greencastle , PA. a little town of 2000 people and right above the Mason Dixon Line of Maryland and PA. I have lived in 11 houses when my husband and I were married and have lived out in Elyria and Stow, Ohio , Camp Hill , Pa. West Springfield , Mass. Burlington , VT. and Fremont, Ca. and Towson and Baldwin and now Timoniu6m, MD. as we moved here the first time in 64 and then again in 70 and then again in 79 and then in 83 move to Fremont, CA. where we lived 11 years . Moved back to Timonium in 95 and now other than Greencastle I consider this home . I sold my home here when I retired in 2001 and bought a new condo up in the North Mays Chapel area and had never lived in a apartment so it was big decision but once I moved here I am glad I did as it is a nice place and most of the people who moved into the building in 2001 are still here. I could not live in a big city but am not far from the city of Baltimore where my grandson Ryan lives . I enjoy getting to go down to Baltimore and going to eat down there but would not want to live in a big city but like the suburbs of a city and will not be going anywhere until I pass away and then I will be buried up home in Greencastle with my husband , and my Mother and her parents.

    1. Marie, I have moved around quite a bit and I hope to stay where I am. I plan to be creatd and have not decided where to put my ashes. You seem happy to be back where you began and that is good since you have family close. Except to go to the Bus station, I have not been downtown since I moved. It is very expensive now and congested and I have so much all around me. I can take a train into the downtown soon again. My condo is about 1500 square feet and it is plenty big enough for me. Thank you for commenting.

  4. Hi Rose, I dislike cities, I only feel at home on the edge of the Lake District, I have brothers in Windermere, Coniston, and Ambleside…myself I am Ulverston born and bred , and my heart is there.