feels like home to me

I have created a wonderful home for myself in Birmingham. I love the city, I enjoy running into people I know, I love walking at Jemison Trail and Aldridge Gardens. I like knowing the restaurants and where to go dancing. Birmingham is what I mean when I say "home." Yet, I have discovered with joy that there are other places that feel like home to me. I'm sitting on Amy's couch in Detroit, MI at this very moment. I've visited Amy once a year since she moved here, so this is probably my fourth visit. And this place feels like home. Amy and I have a very close friendship, one where silence is as comfortable as laughter. I know the members of her church and help her throw birthday parties for her friends. It's as comfortable here as being at home. And whenever I visit Warren and Jackie in Utah, I just mesh right into their family. I am known there and loved. I just called Mike (it's his eighth birthday) and listened with secret joy as the nephews argued over who was gonna talk to Aunt Alison. And of course, when I visit my parents, I am home. Over Thanksgiving, I got to spend a bit of time in the house while my parents were out. I wandered around looking at the pictures of people I love, those alive and those who have passed away. I looked at the trinkets that represent so many trips and memories. I play a few hymns on the grand piano that I have cherished, even as a child. I smile as I see a note that my mother has found and put on her bulletin board, a note I wrote to my parents 7 years ago. And then, there's Melissa's apartment where I have cooked countless meals and watched way too many episodes of American Idol. And Natalie's apartment, where we returned after hours of dancing at the blues club and played games with her friends. And I suppose I could go on. But, I am grateful to know that so many places feel like home. And I am grateful to know that it has nothing to do with the place, only with the people. People that I cherish and find such delight in. It is good to be known. It is good to be loved. I am grateful.