Dearest Zoe Bee,

I share our story in pictures and words.

Pictures that show the beauty we have worked so hard to build in our home, together.

Words that connect, bit by bit, into a script, a love story of new beginnings.

The truth is, wee girl of mine, our home is wherever we make it to be.  Our home is whatever and with whomever we make it.  Home-“making”, really, is the act of making a home.  Building a life.  And this act cannot be contained within four walls alone.  

This act is found in the friends and neighbours and family who circle in around you, as you draw them in closer.

It’s found in the folks who add in the “stuff” to your home (big details and small, from spill-proof cleanable white couches to handmade needlepoint art to carefully chosen greeting cards of inspiration that are so perfect you have to frame them).

It’s found in the ones who fill your life with joy and laughter and spill pesto on your carpet.

It’s found in the ones who send love and goodness (and texts and phone calls and beautiful bouquets of bright pink flowers) from afar.  In the ones who are always with you, even when they aren’t in the room with you. Or in the ones who come to see you every single morning as you eat puffed millet and yogurt and fruit for breakfast.  Or in the ones who encourage you to dance in your kitchen.

It’s found in the one who delights in jumping off the spill-proof cleanable white couch to spontaneously dance with her mama to a silly song from a favourite movie (that, my dear girl, is you).

And it’s found in giving thanks: giving thanks to all those who have circled in, who have helped you make your little space a home, who have helped you realize that not only do you deserve a space of quiet beauty and love, but also that it is always, always deep within you.

Zoe, my home is with you. You, and all those who continue to circle in and draw closer.  And it will always be so.

Aren’t we just the luckiest?