One thing that we've always tried to instill in our girls is that home is less about a certain place and more about our family being together. Home is wherever we are together. We lead a very mobile life-it's just how things are, and we want them to have a sense of home wherever our family might be. Actually, we've been in Beirut for going on 6 years now, which is the longest we 've lived in one place in our almost 15 years of marriage. I believe this about home, I really do, and I think we've done a pretty good job of creating "home" wherever we might be. That said, however, there is something about the little piece of the world located at the corner of Woodview and Essexshire in Memphis, TN, that will forever and always be home to me. No matter how much we kid my parents about getting out of the house they've been in for 30 + years, a huge part of me is oh so thankful that they are still right there. I love that I have so many childhood memories in this place that in little spurts every few years, my kids are having the chance to duplicate. The amount of land that this modest little house in Memphis takes up, would probably house a 10 story apartment buidling with two families per floor in the Middle East where we live. It's a very welcome green space that we are still so thankful to call home in Memphis.
A time honored family tradition in the Cameron home is summer meals on the screened in side porch. Somehow it always seems to work even in the heat of summer. This is the first year that I remember our girls actually liking barbecue and I was so proud! Memphis barbecue and Chick-Fil-A are always are two must haves when we come to the US.
This may be a thing of the past, but I loved washing the cars in the driveway when I was little. This is something my girls had never done and Dad was more than happy to introduce them to the concept!
In my opinion, no summer is complete without a great romp through the sprinkler and that is one thing the girls got plenty of this summer- again- so many memories of doing the exact same thing!
.JPG)
One of my favorite childhood memories from family gatherings is playing croquet in Memommy and Grandaddy's front yard. I don't know that all the aunts and uncles loved it as much as the kids, but I remember it to be a near perfect event everytime we played. The girls really enjoyed figuring out the game of croquet is Annie and Da's front yard this summer. It was mostly pretty tame, and we only had to intervene once when they decided the mallets might be good Star Wars light sabers. Overall it was a huge hit and just as fun as I remember.
Slumber parties of all shapes and sizes have been happening at the Cameron house for as long as I can remember, and this summer was definitely no exception. The girls were thrilled to have Sarah Ann sleep over at any and every opportunity.
No night was complete without Sarah Ann and Thomas and of course birthday cake ice cream- yummy!
Of course, our last US meal had to be Chick-Fil-A. Goodbyes are always hard when we leave one home to return to another, but this year was made a little easier by the fact that Annie and Da were coming to Lebanon in less than a month, Pap was coming about a month later, AND we are coming back to the states in about a year. They say home is where the heart is, but it gets a little more complicated when you leave pieces of your heart in so many different places. We are blessed beyond measure to have many places to call home!
3 comments:
Yeah - you're lucky your parents have stayed there all these years...I was sad when my dad moved out of the house I grew up in - the one I ran through the sprinklers in and washed my car in the driveway in and built a tree house in the orange tree in and played croquet in. I could go on. Sweet post. You've got me all nostalgic for my childhood home :)
I am also happy that my parents still live around the corner from yours in that same house I grew up in. I remember all those things too... washing cars and meals on the porch. Great times
I just now have gotten around to reading this blog, and it makes me very glad that you have such fond memories of home. I think it was Carson McCullars who wrote a book called Home is Where the Heart Is (I never read it: I just remember the title from a book list somewhere).
My favorite quote about home comes from Robert Frost's The Death of the Hired Man.The old hired man Tom has come back, probably to die The husband says,"Home is where, when you go there, they have to take you in." to which the wife responds, " I've always thought that it's a place that you haven't somehow to deserve." (maybe it was the wife first and then the husband, but the point is still there. In your case,kiddo, neither quote applies, even though I'll probably still be trying to get Mom to move when we're like Norman and Ethel in On Golden Pond ("Norman, listen to the loons!).
Thanks for sharing your love for home with the world and with us....
Dad
Post a Comment