This past week was Thanksgiving break, and it was also my first time home in 6 whole months. I took an internship out of state and go to school 5 hours away from home so it allows for very little opportunities to travel home. With this long period of time elapsing before I was able to get home, there was a definite shift in my experience of “home” than all the other times I had gone home. After a long time elapses there are certain things that you notice that you had not noticed before.
Your pets get old. Yes, only six months had elapsed but they age quickly. Especially if you’re like me and your family pets were puppies or kittens when you were little and now that you’re older, they’re elderly. When I saw my cat for the first time, I burst out in tears, she looked so much older and frail, so make sure you brace yourself.
Photo by Alexis Chloe on Unsplash
Also, your house has a smell. I never smelled it before because I lived there or not a lot of time would pass between my visits but 6 months of absence and you notice the smell.
This visit confirmed something I had always known to be true but my bed is the most comfy thing to sit on, lay on, sleep on ever. I don’t think any mattress will ever compare.
I also noticed on this visit that I am a pack rat and extremely unmotivated during breaks. I haven’t been home in 6 months so, anything and everything I have at home is something I can easily live without. However, not only did I make this realization but I didn’t do a thing about it. Truly, it would not have been hard to get rid of my things–books, clothes, laundry–I just didn’t do it. Not because I didn’t have time, just because I didn’t want to.
I think that one of the most interesting things about my trip home this break was the changing relationship between me and my parents. Looking around the house and spending time with them, I could tell how much more tired they had started to become. There were little ques that clued me in such as my dad watching more tv, him becoming more exhausted from doing errands. My mom not cooking anymore, or keeping the house as clean. The outside had begun to deteriorate as well since my little brother is the only one home to help with yard work. Also, my parents seem to recognize me as more of an adult versus all the other times I’ve been home. They see my coming home and spending time with them as more of a thing I’m choosing to do than as something that I’m obligated to do. My dad repeatedly thanked me for coming home during break.
I also realized this change within myself. Though it was nice to go home for break, I no longer urged to go home like I had in the past. To me this is a direct reflection of me becoming more self reliant and comfortable with being by myself and living my own life. It is a really comforting feeling to see how I’ve created my own life and my own family away from my nuclear family.
Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash