A House Is Not a Home

Now that we know for sure that we are moving we have been sorting, disposing, packing, debating, and deciding what to throw away and what to keep. It has brought back floods of memories. We have been in this house without our children for a while now. But there are still many “remnants” of them. Ashlyn last lived here for a few months last fall while she earned some money to get out on her own. Ben was here over this past Easter weekend.

Neither of them will ever again see the home in which they grew up. They have mixed feelings about that. And so do we.

But as we discussed with them our decision to start a new chapter in life we had to remind them that it wasn’t the house that made our home. This was the place where many good times, holidays, and memories were made. But the place isn’t what’s important. It’s the people.

A house is not a home. What makes the home are the ones who occupy the place. The home is the place where all of the following home-like things took place:

  • birthdays were celebrated
  • homework was wrangled
  • homecoming and prom dates started
  • music was made
  • family meals were had
  • plays were presented
  • Dad created Christmas dinner
  • Mom made special cakes
  • high school friends hung out
  • piano lessons were practiced
  • games were played
  • prayers were prayed
  • tears ran down
  • laughs went up
  • books were read out loud
  • illnesses were nursed
  • a baseball was thrown
  • a monolog was shown
  • a hamster was had
  • and a lot of love was shared

None of these things really had to do with the house. What made the home was the people.

And though the house will be missed, the people who possessed it still make the home, the home. No matter where they may be.

It is the family that makes a house a home. It is the people. The bricks and mortar are simply the boundary lines that hold it all together.

What memories have you created in your home?

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4 thoughts on “A House Is Not a Home

  1. We are now into our new dwelling, a lovely apartment in Wauwatosa, nothing but green grass, (soccer fields) around us. This was the first middle school in Tosa, Hawthorne Middle School. When they built Longfellow and others it became a senior apartment complex. It is fantastic. We now have as much living space as we did in our 4 bedroom, 2 bath, Den and Rec room on Philip Place. There are 117 residents here, but only 20 men.

    Most of the residents are over 90 years of age, 3 are over a 100. If you live to a 100 you have it made, not many people die over a 100. No sirens, no barking Rotweilers. We had great times for 42 years back there, and we will miss all of our fine Norwood neighbors.

  2. You are so right. Your family will continue to have many fond memories associated with living in that house. When I think of my kids at a young age, it reminds me of where we lived at the time. We would have had those memories not matter what house we lived in. It's the family that matters. Blessings.