Home is where the heart is?

Hello Listservians!

There's a lot of important stuff going on in the world but I'd like to talk about home right now.

Christmas in the US means everyone's obsessed with snow and presents and family and home. I don't like snow or rampant commericalism, and family can be tough when one side are orthodox Israelis and the other are Catholic Mexicans. But home is something bigger than family and religion. Home is history and belonging and native understanding and love of a place because it is *yours.*

As a military brat, I miss out on that. There's a phrase for this, "third culture kids," or TCKs. Military brats, diplomatic brats, missionary kids - there's this pull between our passport country and the country/countries where we've grown up. We never belong entirely to either culture and we can never entirely lay claim to either place.

People ask me where home is and I never know how to answer. I usually joke and say that home is wherever I'm sleeping tonight, or where my cat is, or where the wi-fi connects automatically. I've never found a serious answer. I'm still looking for my home and sometimes I think I always will be.

So, whether you celebrate anything this time of year or not, please talk to your families. Tell them you love them. Go for a trip around your hometown. Wave to your neighbours. Reach out to those who are alone, are in mourning, or that you've always wanted to get to know but never have.

Enjoy home, and be blessed.


If you're a TCK as well, or want to share any thoughts on anything I've said, please feel free to email me! I'd love to hear from you.

Rei C
rei.c.listserve[AT]gmail.com
USA

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