Home is a word that packs a lot of punch and I throughly enjoyed reading everyone’s description of home. We all come from very different background and have vastly different experiences so it was intriguing to discover and delve into each other. I am writing on three peers blogs whom I found our experiences of home connected and shared similar values with mine. I will be sharing Melissa Kuiper‘s blog titled “Where We Grow,” Whitney Millar‘s blog titled “Let Me Come Home”, and Jamie King‘s blog titled “Home. Yes, we are home.”

One thought that I had during my reading of these three blogs was that each person had a very emotional connection to their personal meaning of home. Regardless if the writers attached home to a physical structure, or it was ghost-like and was a feeling that transferred with them wherever they went, no one had a lacklustre account of what home meant to them.

“It’s been a challenge letting myself get attached to any one place or person, so really accepting anywhere or anyone as an emblem of “home” is monumental for me.” – Melissa Kuiper

“(…)what does it mean when you get tired of these places? When you’re ready to leave them behind as placeholders for nostalgia, instead of retreading to make new memories?” – Whitney Millar

“They all came back at different times and as I greeted each person, I witnessed a vast display of grief, from almost jocular hellos to hugs that lasted minutes.” – Jamie King

Other people, loved ones in our lives where major central themes to our stories of home. Melissa talks about her family at length that gives context to her story, mentioning her Nanay and their relationship being home. Jamie describes the comrodity that the people at the outdoor theatre at which she worked had, how their stories intertwined throughout hers. Melissa tells how she tried to include pieces of her family when she was not with her family, such as a card her Mom slipped in her bag or making ramen noodles that her Grandmother made for her at home.

The physical structure of home was detailed throughout the blogs as well. Melissa beautifully describes her childhood home “two stories, three bedrooms, with different coloured carpet in every room” which really connected me to my childhood home as well. Whitney mentions that she is lucky to have her physical home also contain the emotional home. Jamie brings imagery to the farm, such as the wide acres of land and porches where the cast and crew gathered.

I felt that my blog reasoned with these three because all of us connected our personal stories of home with people, whether we are with them or not. I resonate home with a particular set of girlfriends (as well as my own lovely family) and I really felt that these blogs had that sense of bonding with people in a particular setting, whether that is the physical structure of a home or an outdoor setting. I enjoyed Jamie’s blog as it takes place in the Okanagan which is where mine is located as well and the sense and culture up here is wonderfully described in her blog.

I was touched by the level of emotion displayed in the blogs and appreciated the content. Home is a shifting idea but I feel we all have deep roots of our homes and will remain grounded within that.