A wet and gloomy day here in the 401 on Tuesday. Which for The Missus Herself was the last day of Chuseok, which is the Korean harvest festival, roughly equivalent to what we call Thanksgiving in the U.S. and in Canada. (U.S. in November, Canada in October, other places celebrate a day as Thanksgiving. Most cultures have a harvest festival.) As per usual, the love of my life phoned home to talk to her family. She misses them more and more every year.
I cannot believe the sacrifice she made to leave her native land behind to come to America with me, raise three kids, three naval officers no less, and to become a citizen of my homeland. But as the years go by, I can tell she misses her two brothers and her older sister back in Korea.
I have written of the concept of home before, no doubt I will again. Most recently in December of last year, before that it was December of 2014*. So yeah, I'm early this year. Perhaps it's the weather which has me so maudlin.
When I get home after work, all my cares and woes drop away. Home is warm and welcoming with The Missus Herself and the feline staff on hand to greet me. But I miss my Mom, my brothers, my kids and grandkids. I feel at home at their homes as well. The Missus Herself and I often remark how nice it would be if everyone lived closer.
Ah, home.
Ran across this old tune by my favorite band today. It inspired this post, and inspired some deep thoughts. Why does it seem lately that the Foo Fighters have a song to fit my every mood? I don't know. I'm just glad they do.
I hope you can be home. Always.
Home
Written By Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel & Dave Grohl
Wish I were with you
But I couldn't stay
Every direction
Leads me away
Pray for tomorrow
But for today
All I want is to be home
Stand in the mirror
You look the same
Just lookin' for shelter
From cold and the pain
Someone to cover
Safe from the rain
All I want is to be home
Echoes and silence
Patience and grace
All of these moments
I'll never replace
No fear of my heart
Absence of faith
All I want is to be home
All I want is to be home
People I've loved
I have no regrets
Some I remember
Some I forget
Some of them living
Some of them dead
All I want is to be home
*Seems I've whined about the lack of page views before as well!
I find it really interesting that there are some places that are as much home even though I have never lived there, only visited.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. Maybe there is something to that whole "ancestral memory" thing.
DeleteBut there are places in the world where I felt at home, though I'd never been there before.
It would be GOLD if somehow the Missus Herself could visit or be visited by her family.
ReplyDeleteTrue. She and one of her sisters in the States have a plan. But the plan isn't working out as well as they had wished. The visit keeps getting pushed back.
DeleteI'd love to see a post on that event if it comes to pass.
DeleteOh, the trip will happen and a post will follow. The plan does not include me. I'm good with that. I've flown across the Pacific enough for one lifetime. From here to Korea is a long, long flight.
DeleteWhile I am generally quite content to be a solitary Badger, there are times I deeply wish that I had a family.
ReplyDeleteYup, there are times that it makes life a bit easier to have folks to lean on. A place you can go where not only do they have to take you in, they WANT to take you in.
DeleteSometimes family is expressed in 1's and 0's.
DeleteFor many it is.
DeleteDoes your wife do the Skype thingy? It might help, to actually see the faces rather than just hear the voices.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to figure out what posts seem to generate big page views or how. Seems a mystery. Same with comments. But then again, it seems to be the nature of this game. You've got a loyal following, so don't worry about it.
And Home is a funny concept, isn't it? It can be an actual home-home, or a place in the past, or what-might-have-been. That last one is the most difficult to deal with.
Too bad you can't get the stateside ladies together to fly to Korea and just do a remembrance tour. But I know all about shifting schedules and missed opportunities.
There is no substitute for being there. Skype, FaceTime, what have you, it ain't the same. The ladies talk about going, but that's all it is at this point, talk. It all hinges on the youngest sister getting rid of the business she bought some years back. Not many buyers for that. It'll happen, eventually. But I ain't holding my breath.
DeleteThe shelter is one part of home, but the memories, the wife, the kids or pictures of them, and the pets- all cement the concept for me. The wife doesn't travel much at all, at least without me, so I don't have the geo-batch thing happening often, but I understand how you feel when she's gone.
ReplyDeleteA big giant empty. That's kinda how the geo-batch thing feels. ("Geo-batch," love it. Have to remember it.)
DeleteLots of guys leave their families in San Diego or Norfolk when they take one year orders to Bahrain, forcing them to be a geographic bachelor- geo-batch.
DeleteYup, sucks to leave the family behind.
DeleteSeparation has two forms. The one at the end and the many in the middle.
DeleteIndeed. There are reunions in the middle, and at the end, which my faith assures me of.
DeleteI may take a trip in the next few years to that place on the prairies that is my home. I know the feeling.
ReplyDeleteTo get back in touch with one's roots. But beware, that can be bittersweet at times. Especially if no one is there anymore. Been there, done that.
Delete