The Suitcase Lady

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December 24, 2019, 8:23 am

There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays and I’ll Be Home for Christmas are two of America’s most enduring holiday songs. The concept of home looms large in our collective minds at this time of year. But what exactly does home mean?

I would make a very poor vagabond. Having a home  is extremely important to me, and I recognize the difference between a house and a home. A house is a structure; a home is where a person has a sense of belonging. Home is a word loaded with emotion.

I would feel completely rootless without my home. But through the years, I’ve come to realize that I have many home places, places where I can also be comfortable and content, other places of my heart. People and memories make a home. And geography, the grandeur of the land, animals and plants can also call to us.

My second home will always be northern New Mexico, even though I’ve never owned a house or bought a piece of land in that state. Family history brought me there: my Uncle and Aunt were stationed with the military in Albuquerque twice and then chose it for their retirement home. I first set foot in the Land of Enchantment when I was seven and have been going back ever since. If I add up all the days I’ve visited, it would be over 600 days of my life. I have a powerful feeling of coming home every time I drive across the state line into New Mexico or I see the lights snaking down the Rio Grande when my plane lands in Albuquerque.

I have other places I feel at home as well; Tucson, San Diego, Annapolis, New York City, Chicago, the Netherlands.

My best wish for all my family, friends and readers is that you all get home for the holidays…wherever those homes may be.

 

Albuquerque at Christmas


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