where do you call home?
 

So I am feeling very Carrie Bradshaw-ish on this lazy Sunday afternoon. I can't pen a column for a New York tab, so I will just write away here on Greekchat.

Its been nine months since I graduated from college in Southern Illinois and made to move to Chicago. It's amazing how quickly time has gone and how soon I will have to decide whether to stay here in Chicago or return to my family and friends and try to begin a career in St. Louis. So I have been thinking about where to call home.

Is home where your family is from and where your friends are? Or is is a place where you feel some connection to? Is it bound to one geographical location? Or can you be at home at many places at once.

In my 23 years of life as a military kid, I have followed my fathers career across continents, through the Lone Star State and around the Midwest. If you asked me where home was when I was in grade school, it would be easy. Home was Kentucky; that was where we went every Christmas and Turkey day, both of my parents families were there and its home of great basketball tradition written on the hundreds of blue sweatshirts in our closets, no matter that our closets were in a rented ranch in San Antonio. So, my fam would take the car, pack it up and drive the 18 some odd hours from Texas.

As I entered my teens, we moved to Illinois, where my parents are still. If you asked me at the end of high school, where home was I would have to say Belleville, an Illinois burb of St. Louis. It was where I went to high school, where my family had bought out first house, where our football team played, where we went to church. Belleville was still home when I left for college, but it was home in a sense that I could go back for laundry, food, money and pampering parents bestow on their kids when they leave the nest, albeit temporarily.

My sorority in college was my home away from home, despite the fact we only had a physical house for a year. It was a foundation that, although I knew would last only four years, it was strong. The greek variety show, late-night trips to Wal-Marty, formals ... I could go on and on. And for anyone who is greek, I hope you understand what I mean. There are too many memories to shell into a paragraph. And my college town has so many memories as it too was my temporary home - I love so many aspects and memories of my four years in Carbondale. The bars, the outdoors, campus lake, the parties, certain professors, Saluki sports ...

Now, nine months after college. I have a choice - Do I make Chicago home? There are things I have come to love about Chicago, if its possible to fall in love with a city. I love the lakefront, running along the beach and playing volleyball and laying out. I love the skyline as you drive down Lakeshore Drive. I love all the intricate neighborhoods and how I have found my way around this city on my own without a map - well most of the time. I love how I have been independant and on my own, and although it has been rough at times, I have survived. I love how my career has taken off. I work for the third largest newspaper in the state, and they have asked me to stay on when my year-long job is up.

But a phone call with a good friend in St. Louis when she tells me about the crazy night my friends had the night before and how they are planning to go to a Cardinals game and how her classes are going and that they are going to a 5-year high school reuntion, makes me want to go back. The fact still that I have not opened up to anyone in Chicago as I am open with my friends in St. Louis saddens me. If I am upset or sad over something, there is no one here I turn to call. I miss my parents, not so much that I miss being with them, but I see them aging and feel like I want to be closer to them and spend more time with them because I am just now realizing time is so precious.

So if you were to ask me where home now, I would launch into this long rant. Maybe I have been at home all along, and as long as I keep in mind who I am and what my priorities are, home won't be defined by distances, but it is hard to sort that all out.

Any thoughts?

Well, I've never left San Diego in 19 years of life. I went to High school and am going to college here, so I guess San Diego has always been and always be my home.

I've lived in Edmond, Oklahoma for 23 years... Might move as far away as Norman, OK. Went to HS in Oklahoma City... The Oklahoma City area is what I'd call 'home'.

I lived 1st couple of years of my life in North Vancouver, but have lived in Vancouver for 22 years now. So I call Vancouver home.

Richmond for now i guess. But I feel more at home at College than "back home"

well Linden, CA has always been my home. but since i left to attend sdsu, San Diego has been my home. when i graduate i know that i do not want to move back to Linden.
i guess home is where you feel connected. right now i feel connected in SD, but who knows what the future holds. in 5 years when everyone i know here will have graduated, will i be the only one left if i stay? will SD still be home?
anyway, your thread made me think...is home a place, or a feeling? is it the people, or the town? right now i could not dream of moving out of SD, but i know there will be a day soon when i will have to.

Up until I started college a little over 2 years ago - I had lived in my same chicago suburb all of my life - and loved every second of it :) Like you, I love the neighborhoods, downtown, how well I know my way around Chicago and its suburbs, the people, the skyline is beautiful especially at night, i love going to the lake in the summer - I love Chicago, and I know it will always be home for me :D

Don't get me wrong - Iowa City is a great college town - but thats what it is - a college town, somwhere you live for 4 years and then move on!

SLO, CA for at least the next 9 months.

This is a good question, and something I have been thinking of a lot lately (as you might have guessed from all my "where should I move?" questions). (Sidenote: oh crap, the Bears just lost :(.)

I grew up in a Chicago suburb, and my parents still live in the same house they lived in before I was born, so it is easy for me to call the Chicago area home. Iowa City was "home" for 4 years, but since that was for college, it was more of a home-away-from-home and never "home" for real. Now that I'm back in the Chicago area, it's home as it has always been.

I think, though, that home would be wherever I am at the moment. Although my family is here and most of my friends are here, I think that I could build a home for myself anywhere in the country (I'm very independent, anyway). This is actually very appealing to me lately, and I am seriously thinking about moving my home to some new place. I think that this would be very exciting and satisfying -- to go somewhere where I don't know anyone and to build my own "home" and friendships and life. I think that it would be an accomplishment, but I would still know that I would have a home here to return to if I ever wanted, even though I doubt I ever would, because I think that I would feel that it is taking a step back.

Of course, as I sit here, I am still in the safety net of "home" but I think I'm ready to go somewhere else as soon as I can.

I call two places home:

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (where I lived for 20 years!:D).....that's where my family and friends still are

and

Tallahassee, Florida....this is where I live now, for the past 2 years.

Home to me is two places, where I'm from....and where my husband and I have made a life for ourselves. To me, my apartment feels like home, but so does my parent's house (and Art's parent's house!:D)

I guess this means that I will have a changing location for one home as we don't intend to live forever in Tallahassee (in fact, we'll probably move when I'm done school here).....but I will always call Nova Scotia home!:)

I've lived in so many places, but Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will always be "home" for me. It's a very distinctive place; I'm glad to be from there. Although I probably won't ever live there again, it'll always be a special place to me.

according to my dad Cincinnati is my home, since I was born and bred there, but every time i go back to Cinci I refer to Athens (OH, not GA) as home without even thinking. I guess they're both my home.

Madison, Wisconsin.

It's not really a big decision to make because I've lived there for all but one of my nineteen years. Last year I spent my freshman year of college in Minneapolis, and while I liked it and do sometimes miss it, I never once felt "at home" there.

I guess I'd have to call all of southern Ohio home. (Properly prounced "saw-then ahh-hi-ya") It's filled with all the little crafty shops, places where everyone knows at least one of your kin, and whereever you go you never seem out of place. People all smile when you walk by them and say 'hello' and yes, we even have the old men who sit out on benches and throw bread for the birds. :rolleyes: Also, it's gorgeous no matter where you go or what season it is, oh, and we actually -have- seasons unlike some states! So, yep, I love it here. Probably will stay around after I graduate also.

I'm 19...I lived in upstate NY (Norwich) until I was almost ten, and that will always be home for me... I moved to north central IN when I was almost 10...Went to middle school/high school there.. Left for almost a year for college in east central indiana....Quit school, moved to Michigan for a few months (to live with mom).. Then moved back to warsaw (to live with dad)... and have just moved back to east central indiana (where ball state is).. Sounds confusing, I know, but the long and the short of it is that NY will always be home for me - - ALWAYs... There's not enough emphasis I could put on that right now. Always a place in my heart, something I'll never forget. I went there this last march after having not been there for nine years and it was the most welcoming feeling I'd ever had in my life.. It was my home, I could still feel it.. I cried when I left to come back to indiana...I miss it all so much...

Depressed about home now, going to bed. :(

Littleton, CO... my parents house. My family and I moved there when I was 8.

Golden, CO... This is where I currently live. I moved here when I started school at Mines and have been living here ever since. Next year I am planning on buying a house somewhere in the metro area. I haven't really decided where I want to move. I work up in Northglenn right now but my company is moving downtown in March. Any of you Denverites got any suggestions on where I should look for houses???

For me, home isn't a place... it's different places at different times. When I was young, home was with my parents, then I went away to school and that became home. And, now, there is no home (so sad!) because I don't fit in at school now that I have graduated (I can't stay in a college town forever), but I'm too old for my parents' house.

I think you have different homes depending on where you are in life. I was born and raised in Michigan and went to school there. Then I moved to NYC 3.5 years ago. I still consider Michigan my home (although the events of Sept. 2001 definitely made me realize how much this crazy town means to me!!!).

However, if my current boyfriend and I get married, I think we will be here for a while, and once I have a family and some roots here, I will think of NY as home.

Home is wherever you miss when you arent there.

Think about it. Bout the best description I have ever heard.

My family wants me to move to Houston. I would dig beign closer to them, and Houston has so much more to offer than dinky ole SA, but my entire life is here, and I cant imagine leavign the hill country, the smell of the mountain cedar after a rain, a drive by myslkef down scenic loop road when I am down or need some "lifesaver" time, tubing the guadalupe, the dancehalls, the icehouses, or Rudy's. I dotn know...

I could move to Austin, its kinda a combo of both, but I dont knwo anyone there. I think i just dont feel this chapter of my life is done here yet. I'll figure it out when I am ment to.

As for where is home. I guess San Antonio, but when someone asks me where I am from I never say "San Antonio" because they will then ask me what High School I went to here (I didnt). But then, Amarillo (where I was born) isnt home...I have no family there, and havent been back in 7 years. (First one to sing Amarillo by morning gets an ass kicking). I refuse to call Houston home, its completely incongruent with everything in my being. So I dunno....:confused: :confused:

I've always lived in the New Orleans area, and I've always considered it my home.

Baton Rouge was a nice "home away from home" when I was in college. I had a wonderful "family" of friends. Plus, I was only an hour away from my family, so it was the best of both worlds.

Now, all of that is gone from BR. I have an apartment here, but I go home as much as humanly possible. I don't feel like I have any connections in this town anymore, no reason to be here, except for school.

I'm hoping I can sub-let my apartment next semester and just commute. The hour drive each way would be worth the boost in sanity from not feeling alone and trapped in BR.

That is good, but are you ever really home then?

I was born in a suburb of Chicago, and lived there for about 3-4 years until my parents decided they were too far from family in the Quad Cities (IL), so we moved back here, and live in the city where my dad grew up in, and which is next to the city where my mom grew up. They aren't nostolgia people or anything (far from it--they have no pride for anything 'cept my dad likes the Bears), so they didn't plan living in the same city, or me going to the same high school it was just chance. My parents still have friends in Chicago, and we go to see them every now and then, less now than in the past.

Now that I'm at Iowa, I kinda miss it back home, because there's really not that much to do here, and I thought where I was from was small with a metro area of +350,000 people, but compared to Iowa City, it's big. The thing I do love about the Quad Cities, is that there is a lot to do, there is parking, and I can drive just about everywhere in 15-45 minutes depending on traffic. I love to drive, and there are just tons of streets just to drive on, and look at stuff, and there is always something new they are doing. I'm not far from home, just about an hour, but I never go home, I hate having to deal with the drama from my friends back home, and kinda like sitting here in my dorm--it's like it's own little apartment of sorts. Plus if I go home, I'm afraid I'll miss it more if I leave, so if I forget what it's like, then I'll miss it less I 'spose.

When I graduate, I want to move to Chicago, in the city if I make enough money, not a suburb if I can help it. Everytime I visit there, I hate returning back home. Don't get me wrong, I love where I live, but it's so much more diversified and there are so many more opportunities in Chicago--plus I think it's beautiful. I have penchant for tall building, big cities, cars, and all large urban areas involve. I've never been a country girl. I think part of my liking it there is that it seems much more depersonalized, and when I'm on a particular agenda, I can just do it without having to stop and talk and do all kinds of other stuff. It seems here in Iowa, people will say hi to me that I've never even met before, and I'm really not used to that. Plus you can find everything in Chicago, and they have lots of good FOOD! :p

Well after the smartest state thread I think I'll claim Michigan over Ohio. :D

Hmm let see,

I was born in Geneva, Switzerland. Grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, Washington DC, and spend my teen through my university years in New York State. Now, I've been in South Africa since 2000 and thinking about staying here for another year or two. So my home right now is my apartment.

I grew up in NYC, but never really fit in there. I felt more at home in New England and I hope to move back ANY DAY NOW! So, I'd hae to call Providence, RI my hometown now.

Great Topic!
I think that home is where your family is. However, there are so many forms of family. For me, my home is where my parents live. I also conisider the sorority house my home.

New York City is my home. :)

Great question! I spent most of my childhood in New York City, we moved when I was 13. I miss the family we left behind and I love going back there to visit, but I wouldn't call it home. I don't particularly want to go back there to live.

We moved to Tucson, and that's where my immediate family still is. I love it there, even though I only lived there for about 5 years. That's where I went on school breaks, that's where my lifelong friends are, that's where I got married, and to take a cue from lifesaver, that's the place I miss when I'm not there.

I like Los Angeles. Its where we've been living and working, and its where my in-laws are. But as much as I like it, L.A just doesn't *do* it for me. Maybe it will be different once we buy a house and have children. We'll see...I'll let you all know if I've changed my mind when that happens. ;)

Racine, Wisconsin is where I was born and raised.
Milwaukee is where I go to school.

So I guess for now I call Racine home until I move on after college and settle in a city that I like.

I guess home is where I go to visit my parents:

For me..... WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA! WooHoo!!!!

Well I have lived in Murray Ky, for the last few years so technically this is my home. My parents own houses in Louisville, KY, and in a city just south of Atlanta GA. Now they are looking to buy another house in Hilton Head SC. I guess to me, home is where my family is. It really doesn't matter what state we are in, when my brother and I and my parents are together, we are home.

home
 

Wow, home is something symbolic for me. Where I feel the most secure, and, oddly enough, it isn't always a place, it quite often is a person. Right now, I feel most at home whenever I am with close friends, no matter where we go. My new boyfriend, my new best friend..these people that I knew within minutes of meeting them that they'd pull at my heart strings forever and that I found some sort of understanding and connection in their eyes. "Soulmates" may be a strong term, but there are a few people who I feel totally connected with.
That being said, I'd say I feel most "at home" in Santa Barbara, my college town, and, surprise(!) Paris, France..the Latin quarter, specifically. Having lived there for a few months,there are people that i have met there that i know i could show up on their doorstep tomorrow and be able to stay there indefinitely and we would be able to catch up in a moment's notice. People I don't get the chance to speak with every day, week, or month, but know that they'll still remember old stories we've shared and we'll always be friends.