home  noun \ˈhōm\

- one's place of residence

- a familiar or usual setting
- a place of origin

 As a residential designer, I use the term “home” quite often.  This week that word has such a personal meaning to me. 

Just over a year ago my husband and I came to South Florida from the Boston area to spend the winter.  We loved it so much we purchased a place.  Since then I have enrolled in school here to continue my Interior Design education.  We have since sold that place and bought another one, but Naples has become my home.

 The events that have transpired this week in Boston have caused me to re-evaluate my personal meaning of the word “home”.

I grew in North Carolina, where I met and went to high school with Miss Ginny, and most of my birth family still lives there.  That is my home.

After high school I moved to Atlanta, Key West, and eventually Boston.  All of these were my home when I lived there.

I have lived in the Boston area for more than half of my life.  I went to school there.  I fell in love there.  I married my soul mate there.  And my family through marriage is there.

The terrorist actions on Monday really hit me hard.  Terrorists struck MY home.  And they came within minutes of striking my family.  A Facebook post by my sister-in-law showed her and my niece and nephew standing at the point of the second explosion.  Then there was silence.  Because of the cell phone blackout and public transportation being shut down, we were unable to confirm their safety for hours.  I have not felt this kind of helplessness since 9/11.  Luckily, they had walked away just after the picture was taken.  My sister-in-law is an amazingly strong woman and protected her children as best she could under the circumstances.  The children are still confused and upset by the chaos they were involved in.  They have experienced fear and emotions that no one, especially children, should ever have to experience.

This is MY home.  This is MY family.

This brings me back to the definition of home.  We have all heard the saying “Home is where the heart is”. Home is also where your family is.  I’ve realized that I have many homes.  North Carolina is my home.  Florida is my home.  Boston is my home.  Most importantly, America is my home.  And America is my family.  When terror strikes in our country, regardless of location, it is striking MY home and MY family. 

And though my heart aches for those that have been injured or killed, as well as their families, I will not let the actions of a few misguided, evil people impart fear into my home or my family.

Home IS where the heart is.  And my heart is with all of my family and friends in the Boston area, and with all of my friends and family in this great land.