Monday, September 27, 2010

Home is...

...where the heart is?

I've been very wistful lately. The randomest things set me off and remind me of particular instances of my childhood. Smells, noises, words will remind me of vivid childhood memories that I've treasured for so long. Why exactly is this happening now, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm still, in a way, getting used to this process of being away from home. Or should I say, my parents' home now since I've moved out. But does home stop being home? Or can one have many homes?

I think it's the latter. My fondest childhood memories will always come from this, my parents' home. Waking up late at night to listen to cars driving by on the then faraway main road. The smell of jasmine in the middle of the night. The early morning sounds. The past midnight breeze. My dad listening to the jazz station until it went out. All of these are precious to me and I've been recalling them more and more lately. I think it's because of going back and forth so much.

I know that in the mainland United States, it's common for kids to go away to college. Over here, not so much. Yeah, you may board at the school, but usually, everybody goes back on weekends. It's tradition. I never went away until I was 26! That's when I scored my first job on the other side of the island. Of course, I was looking forward to it, like any self-respecting young adult should. But it's also made me realize how much I miss my parents. I mean, we are not perfect. Let's just say that we're perfectly imperfect and meant for each other. I've been quite lucky to have them, I've got no complaints now. But it's time to move on and grow up, and this move is a very important part of that.

So now I have a home. And a home with my parents. And I also have a home with Damian because when I'm with him, I feel at home anywhere. (Yeah, you can go ahead and barf!) So I've got more than one home and I'm okay with that. I'm going to have lots of homes and I'm going to keep on building memories that I will remember fondly as I grow older. Because home is where the heart is, and these places are where my heart goes.

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