Write a short story (600 – 1000 words) that describes your sense of home; write about the values and the stories that you use to connect yourself to, and to identify your sense of home.

I see the idea of home from two different, yet connected, perspectives. When thinking about my sense of home I instantly think of family and the old cliche saying that, “Home is where the heart is”. As cliche as it is, I believe it to be true. Throughout my life I have been very fortunate to live in many different cities. Every hockey season I would venture off to some new town where I would settle in for six months while playing professional hockey on a number of different minor pro teams. From Bakersfield California to Temple Texas, and even all the way to Amberg Germany. I traveled the globe and got to play the game I loved for a living. Out of all the amazing places I was able to visit, my heart always drew me back to the city I was born and raised in. I always knew and even remember telling people throughout my travels that Vancouver will always be home. My reasons for this go well beyond the beauty of the city and the amazing climate and are rooted in family and familiarity.

The members of my family are truly my best friends. They are my stability and my strength. My father who was an athlete and a firefighter is my hero and best coach in both sports and life. My mother who is my greatest fan is my best friend and the one I call on in times of need. My sister is my rock in the sense that she grounds me and holds our most cherished childhood memories. To me they are home and after each season of hockey they are what drew me back to this city. Now as a parent of two young children I can only hope I am creating this same sense of strength and stability that they will one day always call home.

The other perspective I see the idea of home through is the cage of my goalie mask. My hockey career was pretty unique in the fact that I played all of my hockey on the male side of the game. I played minor hockey with the boys all the way through Junior A and then played five years of pro with men. Through my younger years it was easy as all the boys I played with were my friends from the neighbourhood and school. I was comfortable with them and they were comfortable with me. Things were a bit different once I began to get pro tryouts. Here I was, in my early twenties flying off to some US city to try out for a team of complete strangers, all of which were grown men. Walking into the dressing room on the first day of camp was always terrifying and I just couldn’t wait to get on the ice. My reason for wanting on the ice so bad was because that was “home” to me. It was my place of comfort, my strength, my stability. I knew what I was capable of on the ice and I felt safe there amongst all the strangers around me.

Home for me is rooted in comfort. It’s a place where I feel safe, strong, and at my best. It’s where I am surrounded by loved ones who support and encourage me. In terms of a place it will always be where my family is. In terms of a mindset it will always be behind the mask that shaped the person I am today.

Works Cited

“History.” Bakersfield Condors. Development by iSportsMedia, LLC. 2015. Web. 8 February 2016.

“What is the meaning of ‘Home is where the heart is?'” Quora. Quora. 21 July 2015. Web. 8 February 2016.