The holidays are almost here and it is no surprise that people are starting to head home. It does not matter how old you are, home always has an attraction even if it is only drawing you back into your memories.
I spent eight years of my school life away from home and the holidays always meant home and you got to sleep in your own room and could forget about that roommate who had grown increasingly annoying as the semester grew to a close and your dorm room seemed to shrink. All those little habits that drove you crazy in the fall always seemed to be a little easier to take after a few weeks in your own space at home.
Certainly the holidays also give you time to reconnect with friends as I wrote in a blog post about friends way back in 2004 when we were going through a challenging period in our lives. I have often said that friends and family leave footprints in your heart. Those friends often help to define our lives.
It has been nine years since we sold our family home in Mount Airy, North Carolina, but 2013 is only the second holiday season since we moved from our longtime home in Roanoke, Virginia. Now the home where we gather has palms and pine trees as a view instead of mountains that we could see in Mount Airy and where our home in Roanoke was perched.
Leaving a home where you lived for over twenty years is challenging but you do bring a lot of memories to keep you company until your new house becomes home.
The transitions is much easier if you have moved to a place where you can live one of your dreams like mine of living by the water.
Seeing that long cherished dream come to life means that coming home to me is often coming back into our inlet by boat and getting back to our dock instead of finishing a long car ride or an airplane trip.
A new home means learning about new things like the seasonal reversal that comes as fall disappears and our winter marsh visitors that show up as the weather cools. Both are both part of life here on the Southern Outer Banks.
Making new friends is very important when you are in a new place even one as friendly as our area but you never want to forget the people who have been important in your life.
Of course that includes your family. We have but one maxim when it comes to family and it is very simple. Home is where you are always welcome. That is especially true during the holidays when we take the time to renew ties that have so enriched our lives.
Who knows this year we might create some new coastal family traditions to go with our old ones of peanut brittle and rook. We already have a crabpot tree in the foyer instead of a real tree. The crabpot tree has some ornaments from our family Christmas tree and of course with those come plenty of tree memories.
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