I went “home” this weekend. Not to my house on Buttonwood Ct. I went home to Ohio, but to anyone reading this blog I likely didn’t have to explain that. I am starting to wonder what the word “home” means. When I was in Ohio I saw my cousin who lives in Seattle (and has for at least 4 years) and she asked me “So do you get home much?” And a little sarcastic voice wanted to say “Yes, I go home every day.” But I refrained because I caught myself saying it too.
I’ve lived in Virginia for 5+ years now. I wonder when this will be home, or if it ever well. Or if it is but is just another home. I noticed that when I was leaving Ohio I also talked about going home. (and when we were semi-lost in the hills of West Virginia I really wanted to be home) So what is home really?
My college friend JoAnna said that you can call home anywhere where you have an underwear drawer. This was how we could legitimately talk about Bluffton as home and our parents homes as home. But I don’t have an underwear drawer in Ohio anymore.
I recently became homesick for Bluffton too. A former professor Jeff Gundy came to EMU to display his impressive poetical ability, and I went to hear him talk about “Mennonite Poetry.” It made me spectacularly homesick for Bluffton and that unique brand of liberal Mennonite that they seem to attract as faculty. But I haven’t called Bluffton home for 5+ years either.
Perhaps the cliche “home is where the heart is” applies here. My heart is here, in Virginia, with my Virginia friends, my cat, my house, and the gorgeous mountains and blue sky. My heart is in Bluffton, with the Riley running through the middle and the faculty who have the impressive ability to continually encourage me to aspire to more. And my heart is in Kidron/Apple Creek, where I drink Mom’s dark coffee, listen to the Amish buggies roll past, and watch the sun set over the rolling hills.
A pastor I once had used to talk about “the happy road home.” He was talking about home in heaven, but I think he’s right. The road home, no matter what home I happen to be going to, is happy. Because part of my heart is already there.
