Thoughts on Home

We started doing reentry preparation with the kids, and it has us all thinking about what "home" is.  We talked about "passport" country and "host" country, differences, and what home means to different people.  It was interesting to hear the kids thoughts on the subject.

Ian doesn't feel quite like Impfondo is home, but he wants to. He said that this is where he will spend most of his life, so he wants it to feel like home. He still feels partly like the US is home, and partly like here is home. He'll miss the warm weather, the outdoors, seeing the hawks in the sky. But he is looking forward to re-experiencing some of the things he misses from the US.

Isabelle expressed similar sentiments, but decided that for her home can be anywhere she stays for one month. She'll miss her friends, her room, her water-bed, the cats. But she's looking forward to time spent with grandparents, cousins, and friends left in the US, eating familiar foods, getting new toys. Out of all the children, she is the one who craves stability and is most easily overwhelmed by change.

Caleb said he feels like US is home. I don't think he's ever fully forgiven Africa for not living up to his expectations. He was expecting lions, giraffes, hippos, just like a safari. After we arrived in Congo, he wouldn't believe for a long time that we were in Africa.

Since he was only three when we came, he doesn't remember a lot about the US. He's heard us talk about the things we miss. He wants to belong to the land of grandparents, McDonalds, hot dogs, toys, and hotels with swimming pools. I just hope that will be all he desires.

Stephen added that he feels like home is wherever his family is.

I feel the same. Except it's never really that simple.

My idea of home is also where I'm comfortable and settled, where I can blend in and live an average, unexceptional existence. Where I don't stand out for my white, white skin and my fumbling, stumbling search for words.

For me, though, home is more about the people than the place.

I've always like the quote by Robert Frost, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."

As we've moved and traveled and changed our plans what seems like a thousand times, we've always had this. We have the anchor of our families in the US, who are there to love and care and support.

Anytime we want or need to come "home," they are ready to take us in.