The House That Built Me

Lately I have been feeling a bit homesick. I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that my upcoming birthday will be the first I've celebrated without any of my family. I'm excited for my birthday because I'll be surrounded by most of my closest friends but it bums me out some that none of my family will be around. All in all it has got me thinking a lot about "home." I feel like I've only blogged about the hardships of my childhood and the after effects it has had on my life. But to be fair, there was a lot of good things that I can look back on too and to this day, despite the hardships, I feel an ache for these things.
One thing ss definitely my mom. She really was my rock my entire life. I miss being able to talk and laugh with her while she cooked dinner. When I still had a bedtime it was an hour after my brother so I got to stay up and watch TV shows like "Law and Order: SUV" and "Without a Trace." Now anytime one of those shows come on, I have to call my mom because it makes me miss her. Staying up late on weekends and talking to my little brother is another thing I miss. When we were young we would wait until mom and dad fell asleep and we would get our toys out and play. I remember so many times we tried to muffle our laughing into pillows or had to run and dive back into our beds because one of our parents woke up. My brother and my mom were and always will be my BEST friends. I miss weekend visits to my grandpa's little pink house. Chatting with my now deceased grandma at the kitchen table or picking on my grandpa while he ate cookies and drank coffee. Eating popsicles or drinking lemonade with my brother on the back porch while my dad and Gramps worked on the old Dodge ram that always seemed to have something wrong with it. I miss racing bikes with my brother in the yard and how the red shed was always base. I miss cutting the grass and my grandpa's nickname for me. I miss seeing my grandpa's smile- the kind that reached his eyes and the little gleam he always had. My grandpa is the best man I've ever known even to this day. I of course miss family trips up to my grandma's small Indiana town where country music filled stores restaurants and the smell of coffee woke me every morning. When I think of the word "home" my grandma's town always pops into my head. Country quilts, homemade brownies, chasing my little cousins through the sprinkler, the creak of rocking chairs, and bonfires on cool Indiana nights. That's home. My grandma's town is and always has been my safe place. It's where my mom, brother, and I went every summer to get a break from dad, its where I healed my broken heart two years ago and it is where I always go when I need the warmth of home. It is my happy place. And as of last summer I miss my sister and her kiddos mote than I thought I would. I miss my sister's craziness and laughing with her over silly things and chasing my niece around. I thought I hated Missouri until I spent a summer in Foley.
I've had a tough past year and now that I'm turning 21 I feel like I've lost the girl I used to be. I feel like I've lost those roots that made me.... well me. These good memories along with the bad are what built me into the woman I am today. I feel like I need to get back in touch with those roots and find myself again. And I plan to. I complain and pity myself way too much when really I have tons of reasons to love this life I've been given. And I do. I love my life and the people in it and I cherish those things that built me.
 When they say home is where the heart is, they're right. and all these memories and more are with me everyday and I find home in them whenever I need to. "Home" is that kind of love that just never goes away even when life is beating you down.

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