HOME SWEET HOME: “Life is good enough to eat.”

Moving trucks. Dust and crumbs. Boxes and beds broken down. Every item dismantled & ready to be shipped away, stored, and once again dusted off in 30 days or so with the promise of a new home we can’t wait to call our own.

As I stood in my bare kitchen, hands on the countertops, resting my eyes on the empty room- I couldn’t help but be drenched in memories of all the good that was created there. The hundreds of batches of chocolate chip cookies, the summers of soft-baked pretzels & home-made pizzas, the buttermilk syrups and endless pans of brownies- it all suddenly carried so much more purpose than to please an appetite for food. I could see the streamers for holidays, the spreads for birthdays, the glitter, the ribbons, the bright-colored placemats that clearly marked a celebration; the cake tiers I made from glued mis-matched thrift plates, the walls of art and black and white family photos that smiled down at us, the window-coverings I stitched to match the decor. The sometimes planned and plotted or sometimes last minute efforts we made to create a happy home all seemed to pay off in that moment as I reflected on the joy we etched into the walls and counters and floors of that space. Though the cooking and baking meant messes of flour and grease, and the celebrations meant waking up long before the dawn to set up so I could see the surprise in my children’s eyes, I realized that absolutely none of it was wasted time. We created joy, all that delicious joy. Burnt or doughy, fried or fabulous. Whether or not I ever fully appreciated it then, I was left standing savoring only the memory of its sweet song in my ears and love in my heart like a shadow or brief flash in time. It was then I could see every effort served a much greater purpose. It’s worth proving absolutely priceless. Love made that house our home.

“Home wasn’t a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together. Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.”
― Sarah Dessen

Tags: chocolate, cooking, food, home sweet home