"Home"

There are toys on several steps along the stairwell.  There is laundry draped in and about baskets in all the bedrooms. Bushes and trees have been pruned or removed and fill dirt has been poured over the holes and muddled mess that was our "landscaping." We have made ourselves regulars at the library. There is a place we call, "our spot," at Edmonds beach. We are recognized at a few restaurants nearby whenever we go in for a meal. Wednesdays are dance class. Fridays, Costco. Sundays, church. Tuesdays, the zoo or library. Any beautiful night, the beach.  Sprinkle in a parade, street festival or BBQ on the weekend or occasional weeknight and there you have our summer.  All of these things suggest we've settled in and have grown accustomed to life and routine in this beautiful place. And then over breakfast yesterday, Ruby said, "Mommy, I want to go home."

"Home?" I asked her. "I want to go home," she said. I was confused and assured her that we were home. "I want to go home," she said again. Then I looked at the computer screen and realized we were watching Auntie Nikki lead worship at Bridgeway while we were eating our toast and eggs. "Do you want to go home to Auntie Nikki?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "I want to go home."

My dear girl. I never really considered she'd be homesick for Maryland. I figured she was still so young that she'd think home was wherever Mommy and Daddy were. I made sure to talk with Leo prior to moving about what it meant to move and leave our house and family and friends in Maryland -- that it was okay to be sad to leave them and at the same time be excited and happy about all the new family and friends and places we'd get to meet. But I never gave the same attention to little Ruby about the move. And now I know her little heart feels more than I gave her credit for. Of course she misses "home." How foolish of me to think otherwise.

But can I just say that I sort of love the fact that we were watching service at Bridgeway and that spoke "home" to her? Just hearing the voices of our friends lifted in song and seeing their beautiful faces created a longing in my little girl's heart to be home with them. She had two years of joy, love and complete encouragement in that sacred house. It was all she knew. God, how thankful am I that this is her standard of "home."

I can completely relate.  As a personal confession, I must admit that living in the Pacific Northwest indeed IS all that and a bag of chips. I love the trees. I love the water. I love the mountains. I love that my dad and brother are here. I love my house. I love the restaurants. I love the people. I love the community festivals. I love the art and music. I love the fishing and clamming. I love that after two months Pauly and I still look at each other and say, "We get to live here!" But even with so much to love, when I see the faces on my interwebs of my people back in Maryland, I, like Ruby, miss "home."

There is only one thing to do. You must all move here. Then we can have all that, the bag of chips and dip to go with it!