Home Sweet Home

This couch was the first purchase I made for our new home

Growing up I always thought I would be the first one to really leave home. Not simply because I am the oldest but because I had grown up with the mentality that one day I would get married and move away from my family. After all that is what my mother did and her mother before her and I am a traditionalist at heart. However, of the three grown-up children in our family I am the only one who is still where we grew up.

That's not to say that I am stuck where we started. I went to college not too far away. I married an Englishman who generously offered to move to Chicago for me and we now have a baby boy and a new-to-us house only 10 minutes away from my parents' home. It's funny how so much has changed in my life while the scenery has remained the same. But, it isn't the scenery that makes my new home feel like home. It is my husband getting out of bed early to mow the lawn, my son squealing because he saw his reflection in the mirror, my bookcase rammed with books, the vase one of my best friends gave me as a wedding present and the family housewarming party filling our living room with banter and laughter.

The every day chores, tribulations and triumphs plus the people I share my home with are what make me feel like we really belong here. I certainly had my doubts and the path to getting this house was full of strife. But, now, I am glad to call it home.

 ~Tasneem