Saturday, April 9, 2011

H- Home is Where the Heart is

I live in France.  I love France.  It’s where my family is, where my youngest two children were born, where I met my husband, where I studied, worked, and played my junior year of college...


That said, I grew up in Connecticut.  More precisely - ‘Moosup’ Connecticut. ( Yes, delightful town name, isn’t it?  Like a lot of New England landmarks, it derived from names given by the Native American Indians.)  In any case, Connecticut still feels like home, even though I haven’t lived there in seven years.

I always felt like one of the luckiest people in the world to grow up where I did.  As a lover of history, Connecticut held one of the original thirteen colonies and some of the colonial architecture still stands.  There were times I’d be driving through one of the abundant back roads, look to the left and see the sun shining through the tree tops onto some forgotten relic ( a piece of an old stone wall, an abandoned farm, a wheel from what was once an old fashioned wagon) and feel like I was staring into a different time.

The beach is only 30 minutes away if you take off before traffic.

It takes about two hours to get to Time Square in New York.

And an hour to find yourself at Quincy Market in Boston.
It’s hot in the summer, snowy in winter, the leaves in autumn are reportedly some of the most vibrant and beautiful in the world, and spring brings forth sharp green and wildflowers galore.  After growing up there, I could never live someplace that doesn’t have four distinct seasons. 

To be honest, here I am, living ten minutes outside of Paris- one of the most beautiful cities on earth-  and feeling so jealous of anyone lucky enough to live in my tiny, Native-American-named state.  Life is funny that way.

Is there someplace you always feel is ‘home’, even though you haven’t lived there in a really long time?

31 comments:

Jessica Bell said...

Um ... yeah. You know me! :o)

Jessica @ The Alliterative Allomporph

Unknown said...

I will always feel the place where I spent most of my life and went to school as my home. I grew up in a country town and got out of there when I was 18. Now I live in a coastal town, but still think of myself as a country girl.

Sarah said...

I live in MA, but my parents live in Indiana. Because we moved around so much when I was a kid, though, there's actually not any one place that really feels like a native home to me. I guess Indiana comes the closest, although I only lived there for about 6 years.

Laura Pauling said...

I grew up in New England and still live in New England. I know what you mean about loving the historical aspect too. But think of the history you have over there and ten minutes away? That's pretty cool. And that's neat you met your husband over there during college.

Anonymous said...

I'm British but grew up all over the place, so for a long time nowhere felt like home. I still feel quite bohemian.
Since I've had my kids, anywhere I am with them is fine by me as long as they're happy.
I do feel a strong connection with France though and I have a special place in Portugal. I don't know why but I feel at peace there, plus they adore children.
I speak French fluently and haven't got tired of confusing the French. When they hear me switching from English to French without accent, they think I am indeed French, hilarious.

Emily White said...

Though I only live fifteen minutes from the town I grew up in, I still miss it. I miss the quiet and the woods. And I especially miss the lightning bugs at night.

Gina Ciocca said...

Sending you some Connecticut love! I've lived here all my life, and even though the taxes are out of control and the weather can't make up its mind for more than five minutes, I love it too <3

Murees Dupè said...

Great post. You just painted me a wonderful picture of Conneticut and I loved it. Thank you.

Siv Maria said...

Yes, Home for me is Minnesota even though I have now spent as many years here in Norway, Minnesota will always feel like home to me. I have also lived in Seattle and New york, new jersey and Florida. Minnesota still is where my heart is. Loved your post, would like to go to Conneticut, been all over the states but never there.

Stephanie said...

Your description of home sounds divine! :) My post is about home today too. Do you plan on staying in France forever???

Luanne G. Smith said...

Oh, yeah. My husband's job took us out of state for a lot of years. I'm from Colorado and not seeing the mountains everyday was depressing. We finally got to move back home about three years ago, and I can tell you I never take it for granted. I'm grateful every day I get to see those peaks outside my window.

Unknown said...

Even though it hasn't been that long since I've lived there, Memphis will always be my home! I grew up in the military so we moved quite a bit. In fact I only lived in my birthplace of Texas for a year. But after my dad retired to Memphis I fell in love with the city. We're heading back home over Easter and I couldn't be more excited!

Nicole L Rivera said...

David, Florida. No seasons, other than warm and hot, but it is where I grew up and still live. Although, I envy watching the leaves change in the fall, which I got to do for that one semester I spent in Ohio.

Claire Goverts said...

I grew up near Buffalo NY, a mile from Lake Erie. The seasons were great, snowy winters, springs blossoming, warm but not to hot summers, and colorful falls. And the food. Every now and then I find myself craving chicken wings or roast beef on weck. I still live in New York state, but the Buffalo area holds a special place in my heart.

Grammy said...

Hi, Home to me is East Tennessee. Born and raised there, but am in Texas now for the past few months, so even though I am now at home in Texas, a goodly portion of my heart is still in New Market, TN.
Ruby

Marjorie said...

Where I live is home, but I do miss the Midwest from time to time.

dr3am3r said...

I'm originally from Pennsylvania, but I'd love to know if you have any tips for ending up in Europe. :)

Old Kitty said...

Awww you have two beautiful homes now!!! Both lovely and historical and just amazing!! Yay! Take care
x

Stephanie Faris said...

I grew up in a town north of Nashville called Hendersonville. I lived there for a while, and in surrounding areas, but now I live in the area where the Opry is. I go back to H'ville now and feel a sense of pride for my hometown that I didn't feel when I lived there. I think you almost have to go away to really appreciate an area.

klahanie said...

I know what you mean and I'm torn between two countries. I have a life in England, yet when I go back to Vancouver, Canada, I realise how much I miss my other world.
And well done for continuing with this 'alphabet challenge'.
'I' wonder what letter will be next for you and all those other bloggers who have this urge to work their way through the alphabet.
Take care and have fun with this.
In kindness and today's posting was brought to you by the letter 'H', Gary :)

Jeff Beesler said...

It's been way too long since I last dropped on by for a visit to your site. I definitely agree that there are some places that stay with you no matter where you go in the world.

Although where I'm at right now in my life, both in actual location and attitude, are pretty grand, too.

Author Joshua Hoyt said...

I have always wanted to live in a place like you have described. I love the color the leaves turn in the fall and how the trees cover the roads.

Laura S. said...

I've lived in the Philadelphia 'burbs all my life. I don't think I could live in any state outside the mid-Atlantic/New England area. I love the four distinct seasons, too!

I like traveling and touring places. But after awhile I'm always ready to come home to PA. :)

Eliza Wynn said...

For me, home is where I live at any given time of my life.

Bluestocking Mum said...

What a great post

For me, home will always be where I am now - beautiful South Shropshire in England but I always have an affinity for Yorkshire where I grew up.

And there's a little Greek Island (Aegina - closest island to Athens) that hubby and I went to for many years when we were first together and we're taking our boys back there hopefully in August.

To me, that is so familiar, it always feels like we're going home.

x

LTM said...

funny, on the eve of our relocation, I was just telling someone Baton Rouge is always home to me.

So now is "moose up" similar to "man up" in your neck of the woods... ;p lol~ <3

Tomara Armstrong said...

I haven never been to CT, but the corporate office of the company I work for is located outside Hartford. I am supposed to visit this year, but we'll see.

I'm from Western Oklahoma, and while I've lived in Denver and Phoenix... we always migrate back to Oklahoma--mainly because of family.
~2

Wendy@FabNouveau said...

Thank you for this delightful bit of your history Katie. I love history too and enjoy it when ppl tell there's.
Cheers

Tamara Narayan said...

I miss Asheville, NC in much the same way. The Blue Ridge Mountains are so beautiful. But Rochester, NY is pretty too, so I won't complain.

Unknown said...

Hi Katie,

I'm able to trek back to Connecticut about every three months or so to visit my family.(I've been away 13 years)
Luckily, I didn't move too far, only South Jersey.
You posted exactly how I feel about my home state. I'm originally from Woodbridge, CT. My parents moved to Naugatuck, CT (another very Native American Indian name) So very true about what you had to say regarding the seasons. I couldn't live any place without all of them either. Thanks for sharing that wonderful post. But now I'm feeling homesick:(

Gabriela Lessa said...

Oh, that is so true... I think home never stops being home. You can be somewhere else for a long time, but when you think of home, it will always be that place where you grew up, where your parents and grandparents are, where people are raised about the same way you were. That's why I came back to mine. I still want to go travelling a bit, but there's really nowhere like home.

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