Where is this place called home?

I was sick last Thanksgiving with Covid-19 that produced a cold that hung on for three months. My DC friend had to cancel his trip to Raleigh. This year, we met mid-way in Lexington, VA. Lexington is the home of Washington & Lee University and Virginia Military Academy.

I have known my friend for almost 30 years from when I lived in DC from 1993-1996. He and I and a couple of other friends established a Thanksgiving tradition when we traveled to Prague & Budapest in 2003. Since then, we visited Williamsburg, Richmond, and Norfolk. We also have exchanged trips to Raleigh and Washington. Unfortunately, two of those friends now are deceased. That’s what happens as you grow old (88).

When I left my parents’ home in Fort Worth and again when they moved to Fayetteville to be with my sister in 1970, I always made it “home” for Christmas but never Thanksgiving. I don’t have any relatives left, except for a couple of first cousins in Tennessee. My Meditation practice has wakened me to the need to be grateful every day. I am thankful for my Christian heritage and a happy family. I know so many people who were not that lucky.

I always felt out-of-place in Texas even though I lived there for 45 years. After I left my parents’ house, I had two partners at various times and a house in Texas. It was my “home” then, but I really missed the four seasons. I lived as far away as Albuquerque, Oklahoma City and Baltimore, and I really like North Carolina best!

Fortunately, I still have many other friends here in Raleigh. The holiday carol talks about “Home for the Holidays,” and Raleigh has been my home for 27 years. I’ve been in three apartments, and I’ve been in the current one for nine years. I don’t plan to move again since I’ve moved ten times around the country, and that’s enough. My apartment is filled with mementoes and relics that bring back memories. It’s not fashionable, but then neither am I.

Some people think of home as the place where they grew up. Since my father was a Methodist preacher, we lived in a lot of little towns in Central Texas so there was no one place that was home. My parents grew up in East Tennessee, but they left there when they were in their late 30’s. They were even more of a gypsy than I.

I guess that you might say that home is where you feel some emotional attachment and a sense of security. We must pray for those who have no home in any sense of the word. According to the UN, 110 million people have been displaced worldwide, including 36.4 million refugees.

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