I love my Home

I'm rereading a book I read as a little girl. Mom gave it to me in 1966, 41 years ago!! I've always loved it because it was about a mom who expressed her joys, sorrows, worries, happiness. She recognized the value of giving children a good start in life. Here is a quote from the book that I read yesterday. She's getting a little older and her children are trying to get her to move to a smaller place. This is what she thought of their suggestions. "Everything looked familiar,-friendly. There would never be another real home for her. Home was something besides so much lumber and plaster. You built your thoughts into the frame work. You planted a little of your heart with the trees and the shrubbery. It was the only old home the children had ever known. There ought to be a central place, to which they could always bring their joys and sorrows, - an old familiar place for them to return to on Sundays and Christmases. An old home ought always to stand like a mother with open arms. It ought to be here waiting for the children to come to it, like homing pigeons." As she looked beyond the poplars, stared for a moment beyond the Lombardy poplars into the deepening prairie twilight. No, she said quietly, you wouldn't understand. It won't be lonely here." I loved this passage because it is how I feel about my home. It is not a big house, There are many things that need fixing and updating, but I love to walk around the rooms and the yard. I do love to travel and see new things, but if I can't, I can vacation in my own backyard, laying on a lounge chair. I am grateful for these simple pleasures.