Georgia Peach, English Tea: Home

Home

It's such a simple word that can evoke such great emotion. The meaning holds so much for so many; the return to home is like no other feeling that we have...it's difficult to explain, yet we all understand without any explanation needed:

the weary traveler getting off a jet plane

the broken solder who saw too much

the college student with a bag full of dirty laundry

the prodigal son asking forgiveness

the little child after a tough day at school

the dying man on his way to meet his Maker

the cancer patient in remission

and...

the frazzled mother after being in a foreign country with her nutty, fruitcake children...

yes, there is something about the word "home" that pulls at us in ways that we can't explain. i certainly felt the pull when choosing our Christmas cards this year. i was flipping through different shapes and sizes and there, on the front of the card it simply read, "we'll be home for christmas". and i knew i'd found the one.

our card

we'll be home for christmas

the thought was so exciting and heartwarming that i couldn't wait to send out our card this year. it has been one of our most meaningful cards...aside from the one the year before when we had our WHOLE family of 6 all together, at last! that one will be tough to top.

once to our US home, it always amazes me when how after only a few minutes, it seems as if we've never left. the kids dash upstairs to their rooms, running around, looking for their toys. at first we are so loud, laughing and talking about what we remember, things we'd forgotten, how excited we are....and then there is silence. we each find somewhere to go, somewhere to be. for the children, they find a bedroom or a toy and begin to quietly play. for heath and myself, we find mail to go through, rooms to walk around in, business to get done. (okay, let's be honest. i'm walking around rooms, he's getting business done.)

and then the moment comes when we all must hunker down for the night. jet lag at its fullest, we get into our beds and lay our heads down on pillows that seem foreign and yet so familiar.

to us, our home and our beds welcome us each time with more and more love and comfort than the time before. i know it sounds silly, but it's the feeling i get, stronger and stronger with each visit we make.

i had several friends ask me what was the one most important thing that i couldn't wait to do this trip back. my answer was to sit by the fireplace with family and just enjoy being home. and it's what we did a lot of this time. i had a truck deliver a load of firewood on our first day back. i started a fire the moment the truck pulled away....(well, i tried, but i didn't have a starter log, the wood was wet from rain, and all i got was smoke.....but i made the attempt).

we were able to spend time with family and i had a tiny bit of time to see a few friends. not nearly as many as i would've liked to have seen but the few that i did, made me realize how friendships pick right back up where they left off, never missing a beat. and we spent lots (i mean, lots) of time by the fire.

home...

when it was time for us to leave, i was dragging my feet even more than i'd done in the times before. i'd forgotten everything about london. i had not really thought about the city at all during my time back. the holidays, visits and busy agenda had kept me from thinking too much about anything! i'd completely taken myself out of the city this time. i'd lived each day right where i was in marietta, not looking back at where i'd been, but always in the moment. i'd even told a saleswoman one day where we lived and when she asked what part of london, i froze. i couldn't even remember the street, the area, nothing.....! i had to take time to think of it. how does that happen!?

so you would think that entering our flat once again in london would be underwhelming, stale, and have a cold feeling to it. i mean, we love the US. we love being home. at least that was what i thought might happen. but as we entered, a really strange feeling crept over me...

home?.....

home.

our flat felt like home. the smell, the sounds, the memories, the love. the kids ran to their rooms, looking for their toys. we came in so quietly. so tired after a long night on a plane, too little sleep and not enough food. we all began to find our way around, ate a tiny bit to satisfy our hunger....

and took a big fat nap.

....and there was silence. we had fallen into a delightful sleep. all happy. all safe. all warm. and all well....home. we'd brought it over with us. or maybe it had never left. maybe it had always been here with us. maybe we had brought it over 18 months ago and it was just now sinking in.

last night, in my sleep, i was startled awake. by what, who knows. sirens outside, people walking by, jet lag not quite out of my system..but i awoke and had the thought, "where am i!" have you done that before? you wake up and feel like you are in one place and quickly realize you are in another? i originally thought i was in my US bed, snug, safe and happy. and then i realized i was in my UK bed, just as snug and just as safe and just as happy. there was the feeling again. home.

we have 4 more months in this amazing city. we are going to enjoy them, live them and love them. we have been so blessed to call two countries our home. we have been blessed with friends who welcome us back each way we go. we have been blessed to enjoy our fun, crazy and loving family wherever we go. our home follows us where we go. we have been blessed.

home

it evokes so much emotion.

i have a feeling that when we leave here, we will leave a piece of ourselves behind. friends, the children's classmates, so many memories. we will leave many of these things behind. and we will take their love back with us. i hope that we leave our love here to others, as well. i think that we will always be able to return here with a little feeling that this was once...

home.