It’s the house where it happened; the home where they grew.
Sean was two when we moved in;
it is the only place Eric lived until he went to college.
This was taken on the day we scattered.
We still own the home atlthough none of us live there any more..
Tricia is in Louisville.
Sean and I are in diferent parts of Manhattan.
Eric and Essie are in Ann Arbor.
Filed under Advent, Cleveland Heights, Family, Photo
photo – 30 October 2017
arrived September 1985
departed late October 2017
now rented by a friend
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Family, Photo
Thoughts of home have filled my last few days.
Or perhaps I should say thoughts about the many homes I know.
A video showing clips of movies filmed in Pittsburgh and a photo posted by my friend Mihee Kim-Kort about her family’s recent road trip, reminded me of the home where I grew: Neville Island.
I realized that no matter how much I like New York, where I now live; no matter how much I like Louisville where I spent ten years and where I make many trips for work; no matter how much I like Cleveland Heights where Tricia lives now and we raised our family; no matter how much, and most days how much means a great deal, I will always, always, always bleed black and gold.
But this week also saw our ministry host a group from First Presbyterian Church of Albuquerque, New Mexico. And in our conversations I found myself longing for Ghost Ranch and Northern New Mexico, the home of my soul, the place where, every time I visit, I know I belong in a way like I belong in no other place on the planet.
Home of my childhood.
Home of my family.
Home of transition.
Home of the present.
Home of my soul.
All precious places. All blur together.
I give thanks for my homes and I pray and work for the day when all people have a safe place to call home.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Family, Louisville, New York
To exist
to have a place
to live in safety
to be.
2 June 2011
United Nations Headquarters
Manhattan, New York
10:04:54
15 February 2014
Physically exhausted,
emotionally drained,
the scouring continues.
After a nap.
See you along the Trail.
09:58:34
15 February 2014
Snow blankets the Shire, powdered sugar on pastry.
The aroma of coffee, strong coffee, fills the air.
A friend comes to visit soon,
no mark on the door needed for me to know.
Time to prepare, to make ready, to clean.
Enthusiasm seizes me, energy surges through me,
the scouring begins.
See you along the Trail.
Thanks to a friend, I will always know when I am home.
May everyone have reminders of safe places they can call home.
See you along the Trail.
This originally appeared on Facebook as a response to a friend who asked:
What is home? How do you create a sense of home inside you?
After some reflection, I respond:
Home is the place where I belong, truly belong. I may find myself belonging in several places: Pittsburgh, where I grew up; Cleveland Heights where my wife lives and my children grew up; New York, where I live now. But home is the place (and it is not on that list) where my sense of belonging is strongest and most clear. It is the place I yearn for in times of stress and sorrow; it is the place that feeds my spirit and my soul even when I am not there. For me, I knew it was home the first time I arrived there.
Home are the people, past and present, who nurture and mentor me; challenge and infuriate me; love me.
Home is the place that awaits me.
Home is the journey. It is the Trail, in the language of this blog.
Home is a gift.
How would you answer?
See you along the Trail.
Weary, drained,
I stand on the platform
and wait for the train.
I know there is no
signal, yet still
I check my phone.
I step to the edge
and marvel at the
debris between the rails.
The air begins to stir;
then picks up force;
wind surges down the tunnel.
Displaced by the arriving train,
the wind whistles through the station,
and the wind whispers “home.”
And it revives me.
Shire on the Hudson
31 October 2013
For nearly ten years,
I called the Shire in Louisville
home.
In a world where too many people
have no safe place,
I am blessed to have several places to call home.
12 April 2012
Louisville, Kentucky
Filed under Lent, Louisville, Photo
