Friday, November 27, 2020

Hannah Rubin

Gratitude

As Thanksgiving dawns upon us, families have been forced to reevaluate what it means to be together this holiday. As many decide to stay apart, nesting in their own homes, I have been looking at what makes this holiday special. Thanksgiving is the sharing of food, hugs, laughter, love, and a sense of being home. Home is what I am so grateful for this season. Not the physical place necessarily, but that feeling of being surrounded by love.

Traditionally I have thought of home as the house where I grew up. Over the past few years, as I’ve spent increasingly less time there, I’ve searched for how to carry that feeling of home with me. Yet this spring, when I found myself taking college classes at the same desk I did my fifth-grade science project, I realized something. The physical building isn't what makes it home, but rather the memories I have there. Home is something you carry with you. You may leave somewhere, but that somewhere never leaves you. I found that as I grow into my life, I’ve been building homes along the way without even realizing, ports in the storm. Some of these are small, like my favorite bookstore my mom has taken me to since before I could read. Some homes are much larger, like St.John's Church. It is the memories, and connections you have in these people and places that make them home. My mom describes the feeling of home as “being able to walk into the kitchen and know where the spoons are.”

I have found so much to be grateful for this holiday season. My family, friends, dogs, spending time in nature, delicious food, community. I hope that wherever you are this holiday, you see that whatever you are separated from, those places, people, things, you call home- they are always with you.