What is the True Meaning of Home
hi
i’m maddie setzer and for most of my
life i thought that home was a place
much like many others i grew up thinking
that a home was a place of family
a place of love and a place of laughter
if you would ask me when i was younger
to draw a picture of what a home should
look like i would have come up with a
stick figure drawing
of my father my mother and i quickly
things changed for me though
when i was five years old my parents
ended up separating
well for little me this threw a wrench
in everything that i’d ever known
now i would be lying if i said that i
had many memories of my father my mother
and i all together
but it left me questioning what really
is a home
let me tell you that is no easy task for
any five-year-old
from then on lasting until my early
years of high school i had two homes
much like one home they were very
similar yet
my parents didn’t live under one roof
both were a great place of great
memories
a roof over my head and a loving
guardian i was content with this at the
time
and it wasn’t until my junior year of
high school the school year i just
completed
until i really started questioning what
makes a home
this questioning began in my english
class when we were presented with a
writing assignment to embody the work of
joan didion
we read a collection of her stories
slouching towards bethlehem
and one narrative spoke to me in
specific it was titled ongoing home
in the story didion herself struggles
with what the idea of home should look
like
her ideas ranging from a place where her
husband and daughter reside or the place
that she grew up
well reading this about blew my mind
something in the story may feel made me
feel so connected
that i was entranced when it came time
for this writing assignment
i knew exactly what i would do i would
embody the work
of ongoing home i found that writing
this essay to be very therapeutic
i unlocked a layer of myself that i had
never known
i was left somewhat unfulfilled though i
realized that there are many definitions
of home
and it’s completely up to you as an
individual to decide what that means to
you
i looked back at my years of high school
and realized that i had had so many
homes myself
i realized how many incredible people i
had met through programs at my high
school that i would never
have been able to meet if it wasn’t for
said programs
i met people through the international
baccalaureate program or the ib
program for short along with friends
that i met
through my soon to be incredible four
years on the track team
some of these people have grown to be
the most influential in my life and the
most stable
and that’s exactly what a home should be
they make me feel
safe loved and appreciated they’re some
of the most hardworking
incredible compassionate people that
i’ve ever met and just by being around
them
i’ve learned to be a little bit more
like them
this should help me show this helped
show me
how important it is to surround yourself
with incredible people and not take it
for granted
with all of that being said i would like
to touch on the importance of also
realizing that not every
person in not every home is permanent
that’s more than okay
it’s important to keep in mind the great
memories affiliated with each individual
but also the life lessons learned when
it comes down to it
don’t look at the negatives too much
because ultimately i don’t believe
that’s what life is about
plus what happens when someone or
something doesn’t serve you anymore
you pack up and leave much like a home
sometimes it’s painful
sometimes it’s painful and sudden but
sometimes you just outgrow situations
and both are perfectly normal in time
you find a new place and a new home to
stay
and i encourage in time you find a new
place and a new home to call yours
forever or however long that may be
i encourage everyone to find those
special people in your life reach out
make new connections life’s all about
the company you keep
thank you