FInding Home
Where do you feel most at home?
Is it the place you live now? Or the place where you were born?
Or perhaps somewhere you lived along the way?
This handkerchief, which I made while I was visiting my childhood home last summer, brings up a lot of the questions I wrestle with in thinking about where I most feel at home.
Growing up in Wisconsin, the daughter of Portuguese and German immigrants, I never really felt like an ‘American'. Now, living an ocean away in Germany, my Americanism is very much a blatant part of my existence as I struggle to speak efficiently to doctors, navigate official documents, or make small talk with Bavarian parents.
Do I feel at home here?
Not yet
(maybe in another 15 years?)
I think it’s no accident that the theme of ‘home’ shows up again and again in the things that I make.
This little house even sits on my desk and holds my threads.
One thing I do know is that sometimes living away from home and having to cobble together your own family can be the biggest blessing of all.
This is a map of my Wisconsin home and the homes of the two American families I grew up with. We spent every holiday together, marked every life event with each other- they are the kindest, warmest people I know and the heart-family I am so lucky to have in my life.
I’m not sure if Wisconsin will ever completely feel like my home, but my Wisconsin family are undoubtedly my people.
As I am busy getting ready to pack and head back to this childhood home, I’m wondering what your thoughts are-
Where is home to you?