HOME SWEET HOME IS WHERE? PART DEUX

   So, my previous blog had to do with adult kids and where they considered home to be, once they flew the coop.  Although I had no intention of continuing this topic, it kind of grew on its' own and spawned a second look at the topic- not so much for young adults, but for us, their parents and even our parents!
   I attended a niece's baby shower last weekend and her mother and aunts and I gathered in the kitchen, talking about this subject.  I asked them where they considered home to be?  One aunt said, altho she has lived in several different cities for long periods of time, she considered the city in Oklahoma, where she grew up and where her PARENTS STILL LIVE, to be her home.
   Interesting.  I said that I considered Texas to be my home, because this is where I RAISED MY KIDS, as well as the fact that I'VE LIVED LONGER in Texas than I have in Ohio.  Although I still have siblings that live in Ohio, my parents moved to Florida over 20 years ago, so going back to Ohio with my parents living elsewhere feels a bit strange. However, my roots are definitely in Ohio and from those roots, I spread my wings and flew away.
   In fact, it hit me the other day how much my adopted home has become home sweet home.  I was ordering personalized license plates and I was going to use BUCKEYE. But then, when the picture popped up on the screen to show me what they would look like, I saw how BUCKEYE was directly underneath TEXAS!  That didn't make sense to me!  A Texas Buckeye????  What the hey?  Not only that, but I had the strangest feeling that some Texans would look at that and say, "If you like Ohio so much, what are you doing here??"  Texans are a proud bunch, let me tell ya!  But, seriously, isn't that funny that those two thoughts would even cross my mind?  I chose something else!
   My significant other is from West Texas and IMHO, is a real Cowboy!  His boots and jeans are as much a part of him as his charming Texas drawl (example- he says ahl for oil!  How cute is that??)  I loved watching westerns growing up in Ohio (of all places!), which is quite funny, now that I am with a true Texan who can't get enough of his westerns!
   I never listened to country western music until he and I started dating and now that's all I listen to on the radio!  On one of our early dates, he was taking me to the rodeo and I had something else on the radio. He leaned over to change the channel and said, "You have to listen to country music if you're going to a rodeo!"  Ha!  At the time, I didn't know one country artist from another, and now, I'm the one planted in front of the TV to watch the CW awards, not him!
   Oh, geez, enough about me!  I digress!  OK, so obviously, Texas is home to me, but before I got sidetracked, I mentioned that my parents had moved to Florida. That got me wondering:  I wonder where THEY call home?  Thank G-d they're still alive and well, so I was able to satisfy my curiosity right then and there!  My dad immediately responded, "Here!" meaning Florida, because "I'VE LIVED HERE FOR 23 YEARS." (However, he lived in Ohio the first 60 plus years of his life!) But he is definitely home when he pulls into his garage and sees his own fancy golf cart parked in front of him.  He once told me that moving there, makes him feel like he's at summer camp!
  Then, I posed the same question to my mom.  She said "Ohio, because THAT IS WHERE I GREW UP."  So, where she calls home is where she lived the FIRST part of her life, not where she resides currently.
  Isn't this interesting??  I think it's fascinating to hear the reasons people call home, home!  OK, so then I asked two close friends here in Texas. The first was raised in one city and has lived her adult life in another, both in Texas, and she proclaimed the latter to be her home, "because I DON'T HAVE ANYONE LEFT IN THE CITY WHERE I GREW UP."  The second friend said where she lives now, because "MY KIDS AND GRANDKIDS ARE HERE." (Lucky her!)
   Finally, and then I promise I will stop with this (!), I called my brother, who has lived in Florida for 20 years (in a different city than our folks). His first answer as to where he considered home was Florida, because "THAT'S WHERE I RAISED MY FAMILY."  But then, he said something interesting.  When people ask him where he's from, it brings him to "a fork in the road," because he loved his childhood, his (our) house and his (our) hometown so much that he's torn:  HOME VS. HOMETOWN.  Wow.  Ditto!  Happy, sad tears.
   This is probably boring to alot of you who might read this, but to me, a family educator, it is fascinating.  I would love to continue this little survey of mine.  If you would like to participate in my totally unscientific, anonymous survey,  please comment here or drop me an email at hereforashorttime@sbcglobal.net and tell me where you call home and why?  I would be most appreciative!