Life in progress

Home is Where the Heart Is

20 Comments

I consider myself lucky to live here in Canada; far enough away from the east coast not to experience the dreadful weather that comes off the Atlantic, and with plenty of distance between me and the west coast to worry about major earthquakes.  Of course it’s nice as well that I don’t need to survive through winters with no sunlight. Such a vast country… Yet, I’ve always lived within the same 300 mile stretch of Ontario and Quebec, at varying distances from Highway 401.

I’m glad to have had the opportunity to travel a little. I realise my view of the world would be quite narrow, otherwise.

When I started writing this post, I had no idea where I was going with it. But I have a picture. This is part of the walk I take every day on my paper route:

walk

Looking at this picture I get a profound sense of where I am, and the circumstances that brought me here. I didn’t aspire to live in this town. I was guided here by the needs of my son. I’m not sure that I will stay here – there is not much here for me that feels like home. But then, I don’t know that any place along the 300 mile stretch of land in which I’ve lived feels that way.

What is home? My extended family lives in the U.K.; there is only my immediate family here, and they have followed me everywhere I’ve chosen to settle. There are places I’m familiar with. But are they home? I hold no attachment to the places I’ve lived. Home is most definitely where my children are.

I’m blessed to have been born in Canada, and consider it a wise decision to have stayed to bear my children here. But if I did decide to leave, where ever I go will be home, as long as my family comes with me.

Unknown's avatar

Author: Linda G. Hill

There's a writer in here, clawing her way out.

20 thoughts on “Home is Where the Heart Is

  1. Opinionated Man's avatar

    Is that digitally altered? We all know trees aren’t green in cold Canada…

    Like

  2. joey's avatar

    I’m living proof that one CAN go home again. It may not be for everyone. Sure, my favorite Chinese place closed and my pumpkin patch became highfalutin’, but the landscapes, the people, the city scenes — they are home to me.

    Like

  3. Bruce Goodman's avatar

    I find that home is the place I was brought up in as a child – haven’t lived there for 50 years – but I still get excited if/when I pass through. Will never live there again, but that’s where “home” is: not just the house, but the place – the mountains, fields, water, sky… It’s more than a memory; it’s a place where the heart is. We don’t have to have the same “place” as our children. (That’s what I think anyway!)

    Like

    • Linda G. Hill's avatar

      Very true. My eldest son feels the same way – he would love to go back to where he grew up. I do feel a certain amount of nostalgia for where I grew up as well. But things have changed, people have changed – and you can’t go back, as they say.

      Like

  4. willowdot21's avatar

    Yes home is where the heart is and your heart is your children!

    Like

  5. Adrian B's avatar

    You are right children are telling us where is our home. As long as they stay with us.

    Like

Leave a reply to Opinionated Man Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.