"A" is for Abode

Being on the West Coast of the United States, I'd better get faster at posting my letter blog for the day during this Blogging from A-Z April Challenge because my writing comrades in the other time zones are already out of the gate. I've already had hits on my blog, and I'm barely on my second cup of coffee. I promise I'll get better tomorrow. Scarlett O'Hara and me.

I've chosen the theme of gratitude, and what better way to begin my day than thinking how fortunate I am to be living in a house--a home.  My abode.

It isn't the biggest house among my friends; in fact, it's one of the smallest. I've been living in the same house for 20 years. It was big and fancy when we purchased it in 1992 but has gotten small and less fancy after raising three kids to adulthood. We've had to go through several upgrades to stay modern (the blue carpet is the last to go). We moved in when I was 24 and it was already our second home. Who knew I'd live in the second one for all this time.

My grown children have wanted to move a few times to live in a house without oak doors and brass fixtures, but not anymore. They've lived here so long that moving now would be like amputation. They want to bring their own children home one day to the house in which they made their memories. I get that.  My mom and dad did that.

As I sit here typing, my oldest child--a left handed pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers--is at home briefly for Easter Sunday. He's leaving today for work, as it is Opening Day for Major League Baseball. His fiance is here, his sisters are asleep, and this tiny house is big enough to hold them all yet small enough to know we are all at home.

I'm grateful for the physical blessing of owning a house, but I'm just as blessed that my family enjoys being here in it. My son drove straight through from Spring Training so that he could have just two nights in his own bed, a home cooked meal, and the love and laughter of his family. Seven of us crowded together on one sectional sofa last night and watched the finale to The Bible on the History Channel.

For two nights, all of my chicks were back home in the nest.

Yes, by some standards our home is small. And yet, it isn't. Without a home big enough to hold us all and welcoming enough for my adult children to feel comfortable, having them all under the same roof would not be possible. For this, I am grateful.