Home For The Holidays

We've all heard the saying "going home for the holidays" right? Think about this, is there really a place that each & every one of us can call "home"?

A little HERstory of me:

Over 10 years ago when my then boyfriend and I were broke and homeless yet in love as never before during the holidays. That June I moved out to be with him. I was the quiet, shy and independent black sheep of the family. I no longer had a home. Summer came and went.

In the fall, I registered for classes while my mother insisted that I major in accounting Well that didn't happen and probably never would've boyfriend or not. So I come up with this creative (at the time I thought it was) plan to take my extra money from the loan and get us a place to stay. Didn't really dawn on us at the time that rent would have to be paid on a monthly basis. Some of you may know the feeling, when you're so in love you get real good and stupid. Yeah well long story short (not really it's me writing), we got our very first eviction. Welcome to the real world! We no longer had a home.

Most of his family were in Phoenix. One of my uncle's allowed us to move our things into his garage until we were able to get back on our feet. Now I know what you're thinking, why didn't we stay with him? At the time he had a full house. There wasn't even room on the floor for us to stay. Still no home for us.

Well Happy Freaking Turkey Day! We had no where to stay hardly any money left and it was starting to get cold outside. So I get one of those really not-so-good ideas again, we can stay at the Motel 6. My pride alone was not taking us to a homeless shelter. We got a room however is still wasn't home.

I swear I can remember this like it was yesterday. Okay I'm really going to get to my point eventually and stop talking. Well it's Thanksgiving so we needed to get some turkey and fixings right? So we only walked what seemed like 10 miles to get to the nearest grocery store. We had enough money to get a loaf of bread, sliced turkey from the deli and maybe a really generic 2-liter of something. We walked back to our luxurious room and had our first Thanksgiving as a family. At the time Michael Jordan was on Oprah so we both were bundled in blankets, fully clothed and watching one of the greatest athletes of all time. It wasn't all that exciting and we still didn't have a home.

Somehow I got in touch with a friend of mine from high school. I had never met her parents however that didn't stop her mom from helping us find a studio apartment and fully furnishing it. We were told not to say anything to anyone, not even my friend knew at the time. I didn't know the true meaning of generosity until we met this angel on earth. Finally we had a home! Or did we?

I learned a valuable lesson that home is not a physical building, street corner, motel room or shelter. Home is a feeling that you have deep down inside. Sometimes you have to go way out of your comfort zone to find a piece of home. It's there. We all have it. So whether you are with family, friends or alone this holiday season, find your "home". Remember to hold on to it and find comfort knowing it's always there and always will. I challenge those of you that made it this far to help someone else discover where their "home" is for the holidays if you already found your own. Happiest Holidays to you all!