Home matters most

Jennifer at Home Matters Most has asked fellow bloggers to write a piece on why home matters most to them, so here goes:-

In 32 years of married life we have lived in 3 different houses, each house a home, each home a safe and precious place. During those early years of newly wedded bliss home was a place where we could shut out the rest of the world for a while while we got used to each others ways and planned our careers and the rest of our lives. Later on home was the place where we brought home each of our 2 newly born babies, home then became a nursery and later a school room where we taught our brood how to walk, talk, sing, play, respect others, laugh, read, cook and all the other important family things.

Several years on and in our third house and home, this time a house with a mortgage and all the struggles that go with that, home was a place to return to from work and school and where we could offload our days with complete confidence, surely the walls didn't really have ears? Home became a DIY experiment, a mini zoo, a playground, a restaurant/cafeteria for our kids and at times their pals, a counselling centre for friends (the favour was returned many a time when I had problems that were to great to handle alone) home became a gathering place at times of sorrow and of joy.

Now in our middle years with the children grown and living their own busy lives, home is a place they can return to when their problems get too big to deal with alone, they can boomerang back whenever they need to or just after the spare room has been turned into my craft room! :) Home is not just a place, it is a combination of family, friends and a safe haven. Home matters most because there really is no place quite like it!