A Taste Of Home

What is home?

I went home two months ago for a week to tell my family goodbye and to get my belongings to move to my new home. I talk to my family at least once a week. I don't talk to my dad quite like I want to though. But I know everytime I have talked to him since Spring he has told me of this garden he was working on. He was SO proud of this garden and told me about all the different fruits and vegetables he was planting. He told me of the hours of labor he was putting it. All the tilling and hoeing.. all the rain that was coming...that was becoming to much. His constant battles with raccoon, deer, and coyotes. My dad is a story teller and when I say that I mean it in the since of he can tell a story like no other. The details and  the way he told it I imagined this garden great and amazing. When I pulled up at the house after a two hour drive I was BLOWN away by this garden! It was unreal. It was my dads pride and joy. Corn and beans, berries and melons. peppers upon peppers. I walked past the garden and walked past this tiny black cat. Bailey is his name. My step mom had told me tons about this cat. I walked in the house and immediately the smell of home cooked meal passed my nose. I looked down and my dads work boots were next to the door.  My step mom, Tonya, in front of the stove cooking up a storm. My dad came down the hallway and  gave me the biggest hug I had had since I left for Colorado. It was so nice being home. Nothing had changed and it was perfect.

One of my sisters and her husband and daughter were there to say hello. Dad made steaks for dinner and we all ate until we couldn't breathe. We talked about adventures I had been on and they talked to me and offered there better advice for some of the dumber things I had done. We talked of my new house and work. We talked about if I would move home and they encouraged me to follow my dreams and do what was going to make me happy. They told me how proud they were and how they couldn't think of anything better I could be doing at this time in my life. It was so hard to keep tears back while they said all these amazing things.

After dinner Dad and I decided to walk around the garden so he could show me everything. We just walked around and looked for ripe tomatoes and watermelons. I itched to pick everything; ripe or not.

                                                                                                                           
I found my way to the blueberry bush and ate handfuls at a time. So sweet and delicious.  My niece had joined us at this point. We picked them together and shared some laughs and smiles.  Alabama summer days; I forgot how hot they were. My dad went back inside and so did my niece. I walked around for a bit and with every step I took I almost felt like I could swim through the air. But all I could do was smile. I had missed home so much and my heart was full now that I was here.

                                                                                                                                  We spent the rest of the afternoon and night just chatting and catching up. We ate watermelon freshly cut. My dad stayed up late with me just talking about randomness. I slept in my brothers old room. That was the best sleep I had gotten in months. I was home....

I now know what home is...

It took me leaving it and not thinking I had it for a while to realize...

It's knowing everything bad disappears when you walk in the door. It's smiling for no reason. It's hugs and kisses... lessons and advice. It's muggy air and the smell of sweet cut grass..clothes hanging on the line. It's holidays and meals. It's sharing tears of happiness and sadness.. Its cooking meals together. It's caring, being cared for and conversations. Home is a family that loves you and supports you unconditionally, knowing you can do wrong, but not be judged. It's teaching. It's drinking sweet tea on the porch and telling stories until the cicadas come out to sing you there afternoon songs.  And no matter where you are....It's there.

Its everything that I have...