Home... at last!

"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." -- Maya Angelou - Now Write

childhood home

When I look back on my life and think of home, I feel gratitude in my heart... because... home was a place of peace, of refuge, of love, and acceptance. 

My father was thrifty and resourceful. He never liked debt. So, it seemed as if we were always living in a state of improving and remodeling. But somehow that didn't bother me. It was a "normal" way to live because that is what I knew. The constant remodel didn't take away the spirit that emulated in and around home. I knew my parents loved me.

Mom and dad taught us kids what it meant to be a family. We worked together, played together, worshiped together, ate together, and everything else together.  

There is no one right way to raise a family successfully, but my parents took their parenting seriously and tackled each problem that came up with thought, prayer, and good old-fashioned guidance and disciplining. Somehow that worked for the most part. 

I was the middle child and was pretty much a peacemaker. I have been my entire life. But, that didn't mean I didn't throw some curve balls at my parents. As a teenager I didn't always make the right decisions and I know it caused a lot of grief and heartache for them. But mom and dad did everything possible to encourage me to make good choices. They loved me. They accepted me for who I was. I felt safe with them. 

I married my high school boy friend against my parents wishes. They could see things I couldn't. And... it would only take ten years after being married, with five children of my own, to understand their wisdom. And, I came to know what true love really means. My home... my parents... where they were, became a life-long place of refuge from many fierce storms that beat upon me.

My parents home in my adult years

Divorce was hard... really, really hard. I cried many tears. My heart was broken. Completely broken. But I had home! I had my parents. They loved me. They loved me and my five beautiful children. They allowed me to come home. They listened to me. They cried with me. They encouraged me... to carry on, to make good decisions for the future. They became guidance counselors once again. They picked up the pieces of my emotional wreck of a life. 

I had many talks with my father. I will never forget what he told me one day.... "Carol, you can do anything and become anything you want in life!" He was positive. He was supportive. Both mom and dad became my biggest cheerleaders. I moved 3 hours away from home to go to school. It was hard with five children and being all alone in a new place. But... I had mom and dad! They were only a phone call away when I needed them. Most weekends, I would load the car with kids and luggage and head for home. Home to my parents. Home to my sisters... who were and still are, anchor's in the storms of life. 

My first marriage was blissful... until it crashed. My second marriage a challenge. Blended families take so much work, and I wonder if there is such a thing as a successful blend... Really. 

Home... my parents, still continued to be a place of refuge during difficult and trying periods of my second marriage. I don't know how they did it... watching me over the course of a couple decades struggle with things that didn't need to be so hard... had I made better decisions the first time around! The only way I can explain it... is love. Pure unconditional love.

Yes... I've made my life harder than what it needed to be. But, I've grown. I've grown a lot. I have more confidence, more faith, more experience, more appreciation, more wisdom, more understanding. I've made good and worthy goals and have accomplished them. I have a beautiful family and lots of energetic and talented grandchildren that fill my life with joy and happiness. My life is full of so many blessings! 

My parents passed away before I lost my daughter from an act of domestic violence in 2013. My mother only a year previously. It was very hard not to have them to go home to. But I'd like to think... just maybe all the hard knocks of life, unconditional love and Christ-centered teaching from my parents, support from family and friends, and faith... saw me through and continues to do so. Eventhough my parents were no longer here on earth...

THIS I DO KNOW... They were there to get Shaniel at the time of her passing. They were there to take my sweet daughter home. Their granddaughter. Home to heaven. Home to live with them. Home to take her in as their own. Home to comfort and guide her. Home to listen to her. Home to love and bless her. Home to help heal her broken heart. Home... where she is surrounded by family, peace, beauty, and unconditional love. She is HOME! She is safe at last! How much more comfort can I receive than this!

I love my parents! Not only did they provide a loving and safe HOME for me... but they did for my children... as they now do for Shaniel. For this I am eternally grateful.

To see how we celebrated Shaniel's Angelversary, February 10th, click on Shaniel's Story or the tab above.

This post was hosted by

Mama Kat's Pretty Much Famous Writer's Workshop.