Home is where.....

To say this past week has been emotional is an understatement.

CHANGE.

It is the last night that I am sleeping in the house I was raised in.  I have never moved before.  I was brought home to this house as an infant.  I had my temper tantrums as a toddler here.  Playing "church" in our basement.  Easter egg hunts.  Christmas carols around the piano.  Piano lessons- Catherine's practicing.  The spanking game.  Building forts in the living room and basement.  Field hockey in the backyard.  Our epic treehouse.  Basketball games in the driveway.  In middle school, I remember gossiping with girlfriends about who our crushes were.  AIM conversations. Kickboxing and yoga DVDs.  I spent hours on the phone with boyfriends- whispering so my parents couldn't hear our conversation.  Late nights doing homework, after returning from 12 hour days of high school/sports.  I came home every break in college to this house.  I lived here after college for a few years to save money.  Almost every single night that I have lived in this house, my mom has made a home-cooked meal. I have had a table to sit around with my family.  A table that expanded from 7 to 20 on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It is in Maslow's hierarchy of needs that we feel safety and security--- secure in our health, our family, our relationships, our job, our resources, our home.  I am so blessed to have such incredible family and friends that I can depend on.  They make me feel home because they have been through so much with me.  They have seen me in my lowest lows, and my highest highs. 

Catherine, Teresa, Paul, and David-----my siblings who I love and cherish more than anything.  We all grew up here and went through everything together.

CHANGE.

I am starting an adventure of a lifetime.  I have the incredible opportunity to move my life to a foreign country.  Not many people have that chance, and I am beyond grateful for it.  I am very excited, but I am also scared.  Scared of leaving the place I've called home for so long- New Jersey.

The cliché saying, "home is where the heart is", means so much to me now.  I am stripping away the physical home that I identify myself through.  I also have purged through my belongings and I have decided to take with me only what I know I will need (6 suitcases later).  I am not a minimalist, although I admire those who are.  I have thrown out many items of "junk" that I know can not be used.  I have given away many clothes I know I do not need.  I have looked through every item from my childhood that I saved as memorabilia.  I have decided which I would like to hold onto in storage for the year.

CHANGE.


So I am saying goodbye to my house.  My last night sleep here.  I am saying hello to my home....where my heart is.  I am bringing all the love and joy of the people I am surrounded with.  I am even bringing my baggage.  My memories.  My heart.  I'm bringing my home to Rome.