Of the three children in my family, I am the middle child. This means I have the leading abilities of the older sibling but I also get to be the annoying younger sibling; the best of both worlds. I also tend to be the most emotional of my brother and sister, I blame genetics but I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve. This was no different when my parents decided it was time to put our house up for sale.

This was not the house I was brought home to as a baby, but it mine as well have been since we moved into it when I was four. All but one of my earliest memories were experienced in the house I left when I headed to school this year. With my sister now at school too, my parents are officially empty nesters. It is a big house for just two people and our dog and it makes sense that it would be time for them to sell it, but saying goodbye has been harder than I thought it would be. I think this is a normal experience for college students, to have to say goodbye to their childhood home at some point before they graduate, its the normal progression of life. My brother, sister and I are all moving forward in our lives. Hell I want to go to Ecuador next summer, why should my parents have to stay in the the house we’ve lived in for like 15 years? I understand why they want to and have to move, but saying goodbye and having “home” be temporarily gone is a harder process than I thought it would be.

This experience has made me question what is home? Is it a place? A feeling? A memory? With my brother and his girlfriend moving to Minnesota, my sister and I at school for three to four more years, and my parents having the next year or two up in the air-where is my home? I think that home is a feeling that is simply encased by the structure of a house. Knowing that there are people who support you, who have your back no matter what, and who love you, that is home. I consider school to be home and I have a family here with my friends and mentors. The memories I am making here and the memories I made growing up in that house arent going anywhere just because we dont live there anymore.

Growing up and moving on is just a part of life, possibly one of the hardest. Saying goodbye is never easy, but to be able to have had a great house to say goodbye to is truly a blessing. I am grateful for my family, both at “home” and at school. I am grateful for the laughter that filled my childhood. And I am grateful for the opportunities that are shaping my future. This post is a little deeper than the last posts have been, I apologize 🙂 Sometimes its good to open up and share what youre feeling, but hey its almost summer-many more memories to come!