Where your heart lies is your home!
Eighteen years ago I meandered up a long uneven walkway which led to a door that was hidden by boxwoods and vines that had grown well beyond what had been originally intended. Never in my life had I seen anything like it; it was as though the house had literally been swallowed up by the passing of time. What occurred to me too was at a certain period in time, this stately structure had once been someone’s home. I began to imagine the laughter and the tears that had been etched in the memory of the walls that encased the structure that was longing for someone to bring it to life once again. I wondered about the love that had certainly taken place behind the doors whose layers of paint had long since peeled away from the frame, and it was then that I fell in love.
My family and I had often driven past this house on Sunday mornings on our way to church and although only the beautiful slate roof was visible, I knew that on the other side of all the overgrown boxwoods and weeds, and underneath those tiles, was something pretty special.
I learned that the house had been vacant for over eleven years and that the only child of the original owner turned the key one day and never entered the home again. For him the pain of his parents no longer being there was too much for him to bear. In his mind, when his parents died, home died with them. The son shared that there had been many interested buyers, but he was determined that whomever would be the new occupants, making it a home was mandatory and anything less than that was non-negotiable.
And so over the years, I have poured my heart into creating a place where my family and friends could come and no matter what was going on in their worlds, they could, if only for a moment, experience home.
Everyone desires a place where they can be nurtured. A place where they can raise a family or a life; a place to simply call home. The interesting thing is when the average person sets out in search of a dwelling, their list of requirements typically focuses around the physical aspects of home, rather than what embodies the true essence of what home is supposed to be. What doesn’t occur to most is, home is what you bring to a dwelling and that no matter where you live home will always be there with you.
It is my desire that as you follow along on this journey with me that something will be written or shared that will inspire you to open your mind to the one place that will always welcome you -your heart, your home!
Because life should be good! How good is that……
Bonnie
