Home

A garden perhaps?

What makes a home a home?

For some it's the noise of children, laughter, a crowd of family and the bustle of life. For others it's smells: food cooking, trees and flowers, clean linens on a line.

For me?

I don't know.

I'm on the precipice of moving back to the place that I called home for nearly ten years. But it doesn't feel like I am headed home.

There is much I love about that place. There are people that I love, places that I love, and since driving Uber and delivery my intimacy with the city has grown. I know it in and out and I find every corner special in its own way. And the opportunities! Such a massive place with so many people and so many corners, there is food, nightlife, art, music, shopping, and jobs galore!

Yet, it still lacks something.

The place I grew up has long ago lost its "home" feeling, despite the family and friends that I have there. As soon as I left, the whole area changed. I get lost there now. I can't stand the weather. The traffic is unbearable. There is a rush and a bustle which I have long since lost my stomach for.

Here? This is probably the only place I have ever been where no one says they want to leave. I have met more people and gotten to know them in the past six months than I ever have anywhere I have lived. The community here makes this place feel like home. For the first time in my life I feel like I am in a place where I can know and be known.

Of course I am conflicted. We have no physical home here like we do in Florida. Despite feeling home here I have yet to feel settled. But going back there for a season isn't exactly settled. Back and forth is flux. And my mind is not good with flux.

But moving is change. And my mind is not big on change either.

And family? We have gotten accustomed to 700 miles away from them. This would be nearly 2,000. That's hardly a short trip, and a family of seven can't just hop on a plane easily, not with the cost of tickets these days.

So is this home? Could this be home? Am I just so unsettled I'm desperate to call something "home"?

I hope to find out the answers to those questions in the next few months.

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