Oh, home, let me come home/ Home is wherever I’m with you- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (lyrics by Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos)

Dearest Wee Bee,

Life often (always) has different timing than we might have planned. Heck, life often has different plans than what we might have wanted. But you know what the amazing thing is, sweet girl, is that life knows best.

For what feels like forever, my heart has been searching for Home.

Now, while this is typically the time in these love letters (AKA blog posts) when your dear old mum (that would be me!) waxes philosophical and spins a story of how Home is a feeling; how Home is the people you’re with and not where you are; how Home is Belonging To Yourself; and then even wraps it all up in a neat bow and publishes it online, satisfied that it is not tangible things that are needed but feelings, emotions, people….while typically that is my M.O., in this case I’m going to take a sharp right turn.

Because…there’s this thing called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. And shelter is so important that it goes alongside air, water, food and sleep– basically not having shelter is the equivalent to not being able to breathe the air around you. The need for shelter is akin to the need for food and water: it sustains you on your journey called life.

And while it is true that shelter by definition is very different than Home, if you’re lucky, your shelter and your Home can be one and the same. If you’re lucky, with a bit of magic and a whole bunch of roll-up-your-sleeves effort, you can take the shelter you need, and turn it into your Home.

And if you’re really, really lucky, you’ll have the ones who make your heart happy waiting for you behind your door.

Here’s to new adventures, sweet bee.