Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara logo

Home Is Where The Heart Is

And my heart will always be in:

When I was a kid, we lived right there where that fleur de lis is.  That’s still where my parents live.  Lake Charles if you’re wondering.  My grandparents lived two hours north of us.  Almost every weekend, mom would say “We’re going home this weekend.”  I always thought home was home . . right there in Lake Charles, but home to mom and dad was always Sabine Parish and they still have a second home there and go often, though my grandparents are long gone.  They have aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and old friends there.

I now know how they felt.  Louisiana feels like home to me.  It’s where most of my good friends are.  It’s where mom, dad, my niece and her family are.  It’s the people I feel most comfortable around.  Even when I’m in Louisiana and with strangers, I feel more at home than I do sometimes wherever we’re living.

Don’t get me wrong — it’s not that I’ve been unhappy in MO or KY, or that I’ll be unhappy in TX, it’s just different when I’m in Louisiana.  For the most part, the people here are so nice and the food is unbelievably good.  The weather, though hot and humid, is what I’ve known most of my life.  Will we ever move back to Louisiana?  Probably not.  It isn’t Vince’s home state and those not from Louisiana generally don’t feel the same way about the bugs, the humidity, and all the other things those not from Louisiana complain about.  I believe Chad will end up back living here some day and I’ll visit him often (if he lets me) but I’d visit him often no matter where he lives.

So . . if you’re not living in  your home state, do you really miss it? Do you wish you could  move back there?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I am originally from Minnesota…now I live in Iowa. I only live 3 hours from my original home. It’s not enough different to even notice much. Both places are farm country….

  2. No, I’m not living in my home state of Michigan. The only time I miss living there is in the Fall. I love the autumn colors. I don’t miss the cold and the snow! I probably won’t be moving back to Michigan. I love living here in Florida.

  3. I am originally from Mississippi and even though we have been gone from there for over 50 years it is still “home” to me. Would I move back? Probably not as none of my children or grans live there. I love Georgia and since most of my children live close by I am happy where we are living–small town but close to a larger city.

  5. I moved from Illinois to Utah 20 years ago and love it here. Much more enjoyable weather wise and I find myself located halfway between different family members. Move again? Probably when air travel becomes even more intolerable.

  7. I’m a Northern California (San Francisco bay area) girl living in New Jersey. I often question why I’m here, but I’ve got a very good job and a good group of friends. My Dad keeps asking me when I’m going to come to my senses and move back home. We moved frequently as I was growing up so “home” is not a place I can pinpoint anymore. My closest relative is my sister in Vermont so there is nothing keeping me here. I don’t think I could ever afford to live back in CA so here is where I’ll most likely stay.

    But I’ll always be a California girl.

  8. I have always lived in Texas, but I know exactly what you mean. Different parts of Texas are as different as being in different states. I was born and raised in East Texas and it will always be home, even though I haven’t lived there in over 40 years. South Central Texas has it’s own beauty and I won’t leave the kids and grands, but I do miss many things about home. Thankfully there is still family to visit there and it is time to go see some spring things!

  9. I’m originally from Arkansas and yes, I always feel I am really “home” when there. Of course being married to a native Montanan, I will never get to move “home” again. Not sure I could stand the heat, humidity and bugs anymore, either. I was happy living in all the states I’ve lived in–Arkansas, Texas, Wyoming–but happiest in Montana because of Michael.

  10. I’m not living in Arkansas. Every once in a while, I get a strong yearning for “home.” But it’s not the same anymore. So, no. I actually like my home in Missouri.

  11. I’m English but have lived in Switzerland for 20 years, my husband is Swiss, my kids are Swiss and I do feel this is home. I don’t make it back to Northumberland where I came from more than once a year – it’s home, but not home….I’d love to buy a little cottage by the sea there just to keep my roots…but realistically that isn’t going to happen and given the choice I guess I’d choose to stay in Switzerland – but I do know what you mean. A little piece of my heart will always be there by the sea and the moors and the big city where I grew up!

  12. I can’t say that I miss Pennsylvania, though it is still my home state and I am looking forward to coming back and visiting the rolling hills and small farms of Lancaster County. Part of that is that home is family to me, and now that we are full time RVers we actually see more of our families than we did when we were stuck in one place. There’s so much to see and enjoy all over our beautiful country; I’m enjoying the traveling life!

  13. I’m from Ohio … born and raised. Will live here forever. Will not leave. To me it’s the best state in the country – and I’m staying put! I don’t understand people who move, never have – never will. My parents live 15 min. away – and that is a looonnngg way some days. Now that I’m 40, I don’t even like traveling anymore. I’ve seen tons of other states – from here to California, up to Washington state and back across the country again, and down to Florida. But I’ve never seen anything that would make me want to leave my H O M E.

  14. Oh, yes, I’ll always have a deep fondness for my home state of Maryland. But we’ve recently settled in northern Alabama (Huntsville area) and its beauty and vegetation are very much like I remembered growing up in a small suburb in MD. We live in a country like setting but are very close to Huntsville when we want to be in town.
    Now that my beloved Dad has gone, there was no draw to go back to Maryland.
    So far, I love living in the South!

  15. I was an Air Force kid so never really had a place that was “home”. For the past 30 years I have been living in the small town in Arkansas where my dad grew up. The town we always visited when we were kids, where my grandparents lived. It is the closest place to “home” that I have ever felt and I believe I will always be here even though all of my siblings and dad live in Florida. My kids are here. My husband is here, so here I am!

  16. My home state is Indiana. I lived in the NW corner of the state know as “The Region”. Do I miss it, no. When I was little we had lots of family nearby. Most have moved to other parts of the US. My husband is from a small town in SW Wisconsin. He still has family (cousins) in the town, but the town is home for me. Even with the few times I have been to his home town people know who I am and talk with me like I am one of them. We will be moving there hopefully before winter. Other relatives and friends live an hour or two away.

    I joined a Yahoo Rug Weaving group, because I want to use the loom I aquired many years ago. Many of the members are from WI and several have offered to help me get to know my loom. I also already know quilters in the area, so I believe I will be happy there.

  17. well I lived my first 20 years in Wisconsin, the 9 years in a variety of navy base places, and the last 30 years in Arkansas – yet I have never felt Arkansas was home even though most of the family lives here – I actually prefer Wisconsin although not the area I grew up in
    Karen
    http://karensquilting.com/blog/

  18. I’m from Illinois. Not Chicago, but the farmland area. I grew up right on the Mississippi river and when I say right on, I mean it was a few blocks from our house.

    I’ve lived in California now for over 25 years in both Southern California and now Northern California. Since I’ve moved here I’ve always lived in huge cities. Where I grew up, the largest ‘city’ was 54 miles away and it still was tiny compared to Los Angeles and now San Jose.

    Although I love the California weather and I’m a ‘dirty liberal’ at heart, I hate the city and miss the quiet and slower pace of my childhood. I don’t miss the bugs, the humidity, the cold or the narrow mindedness of the area I’m from. But I miss the heart… I miss knowing your neighbors and having people who will really support you through tragedy. I might have disagreed with the politics of the people, but I miss their compassion and love.

    The city is a cold, noisy, uncaring place compared to where I grew up.

    Would I move back? My husband’s job is here and never would be in a place like that. He’s from Tennessee and that’s where his heart is.. So although I’d probably never again live in ‘corn country’, I sure wish I could live in a much slower paced area and maybe someday I will in Tennessee.

  19. Maybe it is something about SW Louisiana. I grew up in central Alabama, but after we were married we spent 10 years in your old stomping grounds in DeRidder. We moved back to AL almost 9 years ago, but I still miss the people, the food, the atmosphere, etc…. of LA. In many ways that is still home. So is Alabama in some ways, and oddly enough, even though we only moved to SE GA 3 months ago this weekend while traveling around AL visiting family and taking care of some business there I couldn’t wait to get ‘home’ to GA. My stuff is here and hubby and I are making our life here for now, so this is home too.

  20. yes, I miss “home” and look forward to dh being out of the Army so we can (hopefully) move back “home”

    For me, home is where family is more than a spot on the map. And, since my folks moved back to where I grew up, they now match up 🙂

    And dh grew up in that area, his folks are still there (for the warm months), so it is home for him, too.

    Too bad our children grew up all over and don’t see home as the same place!

  21. My heart is just north of where your grandparents lived. My son is stationed at Fort Polk near Leesville.

    And coming from Wisconsin he finds the weather and the terrain interesting. March uses both heaters and air conditioning in the same day.

    But I am from Ohio, similar to Wisconsin, but as my dad said,”One blanket further north.”

  22. My husband and I both grew up in Nebraska but lived a good part of adult life in the Black Hills of SD. We now live in Tennessee and are planning to move back to familiar territory:) TN is fine, but it’s not home.

  23. I know exactly how you feel! My home will always be Alaska. I have lived many other places, but they are not “home” to me. Everything about Alaska, I love – there are many things that people do not understand about the state, but I love everyone of them. “Northern hillbillies” is what I am all about!

  24. I grew up in southern Connecticut, but have lived in northern New Jersey since 1966, and I think of NJ as my home. I love living in an area that is somewhat suburban but I can walk to the train and be in New York in 45 min. I love that I have downtown areas on either side of me. I’m not in a city, but close enough to more urban areas in a 7 minute drive. To me it’s the best of being urban and suburban at the same time.
    Northern NJ is very different from southern NJ or the shore. We are part of the metro-NY area, as was my part of CT. So I feel quite at home here.

  25. I still miss Idaho, it’s what I think of when I think of “Home” even though I’ve been in California for over 50 years. Found a place in Northern California that is very similar with family and really good friends nearby but my heart still yearns to be in Idaho.

  26. Born in NJ but moved to Wisconsin at 18 and married a Farmer (that was shock). I love It here and I have great friends and it was a great ploace to raise my daughters,but, part of me longs to live in NJ again. I do have family there, but just the shore is what I miss. But it will never be. Can bearly get the husband to leave to go see the kids and grandkids.

  27. I’m from Iowa and even though I’ve been in S.E. Kansas for over 24 years, Iowa will always be home and I’ve missed it every single day I’ve been gone.

  28. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and I do miss it. It was in a hilly, lush, green valley. Just across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF. A truly beautiful area. Born and raised in CA. I miss the excitement of SF. Met DH in college and he could not wait to get back to So. CA and accepted a teaching job in Palm Springs. Life has been good to us here but I do not like the heat in the summer and we leave for as much time as we can. Winters are wonderful here. My parents have both passed away. My brothers are in the Sacramento area and Wash. DC area. Our boys live in Honolulu and the San Diego area. We are spread out all over!

    Home for me is here. It is the home that we have made together and built our memories. If we ever move, that too will become home.

  29. I was a military brat. My folks retired in Washington state and I spent all four years of high school there…that was the longest I had lived any where. But of course I chose a college far from Washington…in Missouri. Then I joined the military and married a man who came from Texas. We lived there for eight years. That was the longest I had lived any where. We left the Lone Star state when my husband’s job took us to Alaska. We’ve been here 13 years…and no plans to leave…WooHoo! Home is where I live. If I left Alaska I guess it wouldn’t be home anymore but I’m not so sure now. Moving is so stressful but always seems to be worth it eventually.

  30. Home is Texas. I spent about 10 summers in deep East Texas as grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles all owned property up and down one road. We all loved it so much. Then as the children all started college and marrying one by one the properties were sold and we no longer spent summers together. Very sad.
    No matter were we live when I think of home I think of Texas. I would go back in a heart beat. We have been away from Texas for about 13 years and I have never really felt settled. Florida is nice, but it just isn’t home. It still feels like I’m visiting.

  32. David and I both grew up in the same small town – Campbellsville, KY but while in college we married and on the day of his graduation he got a phone call with a job offer in GA and we moved out of state and never looked back. Counting those first 6 months of marriage in KY, we’ve lived in 5 states… KY, GA, IN, SC, GA again, and now TX where we’ve lived the longest (6 years next month.)

    I said we never looked back – but actually as of the last year we’ve really started missing “HOME” and have been trying to figure out what the next step is for us. We’d really like for our children to know our parents more than just 1 or 2 times a year….

    So I can relate to your post and know exactly how you feel about HOME.

    Love from Texas! ~bonnie

  33. I feel the same way about Michigan. I will always live here. I did live in Ohio when I was young and trying to be independent. I lived in both Dayton and Columbus. Michigan has lots of water and trees and big cities and farm land and if you like to swim or fish or hunt it is a dream place to live. We generally don’t have weather disasters either which I consider a big plus. The winters are very cold and last a long time, the summers are generally hot. I wouldn’t have it any other way! I love Michigan!

  34. I’m from Michigan and live in Arizona now. I don’t want to move back to Michigan because of the long cold winters, but truly miss the change of seasons. In Arizona we have two seasons, mild and hotter than Hades. I’d like a cabin on a lake in Michigan – I miss the green and the water…

  35. I am in my home state – and only 75 miles from my home town – but it is so different here. Flat versus VERY hilly – and it is amazing how much I miss those hills!

  36. I lived in Lake Charles, LA for a couple of years. It is a great place filled with nice people and good food!

    I currently live in the DFW area of Texas and I miss “Home” in Houston and it’s in the same state! Of course it’s as far as if it were in another state for most people, over 300 miles. No city is like Houston but I think you would have had to grow up there to appreciate it. It’s amazing how two metropolises in the same state can be so different and yet there’s still an underlying Texan attitude to both. I love living in Texas and I hope you come to love it to Judy.

  37. My feelings exactly about Texas! I think I mostly miss the southern “politeness”. Well along with my family!! We almost moved back 6 years ago, but made the decision to start our own business here in NM so this is where we will be. Plus our son is now married and will probably stay here and I would want to stay near any future grandkids. My DD doesn’t know where she will go once out of law school, so I wil travel wherever she ends up (very very often!). But home will always be Texas. Funny even tho both kids were born in NM they called themselves Texans until they were in high school lol.

  38. We are living in Ontario, after 34 years of military life. For a long time, Toronto was “home”, but now that we have no parents left, the feeling has gone. I asked my sons about “home” for them, as they grew up in various places. They say what makes them feel like “home” is seeing all the stuff in our place – lots of stitcheries on the walls, craft items from over the years and lots of quilts. Also Mom’s cooking and baking, although both sons are good cooks and one is a wonderful baker as well. Soon DS2 will be moving to another city about 4 hours away to move in with his girlfriend – about time for him to have a life of his own!
    The place we chose for retirement was one where we were transferred 3 different times over the years, and we have some civilian friends that have been a constant in our lives for over 30 years. There is also an active quilt guild, and 3 quilt shops nearby. We can be to any one of 3 big cities in under 2 1/2 hours, but we have everything we need right here. Now if we could only get rid of the snowy winters, I wouldn’t have to head south every November!

  39. I’m living in my home state; but, not in my hometown. I don’t want to return to the actual city I was raised in; but, I wouldn’t mind being in the surrounding areas. We moved from the area about 3 years ago and I must confess that I still miss the place. But, I’m adjusting. In fact, I think I could live further north now. 🙂

  40. I live where I grew up, so I am home here in the Pacific Northwest. But it took almost 40 years for THIS to happen: I was crossing the Columbia River on a typical dreary, drizzly day. I noticed the clouds had come down into the tree tops, and everything was soft, fuzzy, green and gray, and it suddenly made my spirits rise – I AM HOME!

  41. Oh Judy, I can sooo relate! I live in the area I grew up in, in fact just a few houses away from where I lived when I was 3. The pull of a small town, this small town in particular, was VERY strong. It was so strong that I moved my family all back here from another part of the state. My husband was a city boy and it took some getting used to, but now he’s so enmeshed with the people and culture in this town, that it’s like he’s been here all his life! My mom still lives up in the northern part of the state, but she grew up here too. If there were any way you could move to LA again, do it! Vince will adapt. I feel for you, I really do. But the good thing is, home really is where the heart is and you have a lot of love at your home, wherever you make it!

  42. I was born about 8 miles from where I’m currently sitting– Torrance, CA. I can’t go back to my home state, because the California I grew up in during the 1960’s– orange groves, lots of empty land, clear blue skies, oil pumps– that’s gone forever. Now it’s concrete, housing tracts and strip malls as far as the eye can see. And I think I’d actually prefer the bugs and humidity as long as there was some green space around me.

  43. I do still feel at home in New York state (I love NY!), although that feeling seems to be diminishing over time. The funny thing is that I felt most at home the first time I stepped off the plane in Italy! My mother and all my grandparents emigrated from there and I felt like I belonged there. Can’t wait to return this summer and bring my kids. I know my daughter will have the same feeling I did.

  44. I still live in my home state-Minnesota. Not in the same town but north in the sticks, on a lake, where all my life I have always wanted to be. This town was ‘home’ the moment I drove into it. I love it here. Family and friends are still farther south, and I visit often (4.5 hours) but HATE the big city. We now have 3 stop lights. I sometimes think of moving back, with all the “ifs” in life, to be closer to family and friends, but I don’t think I could do it. Maybe someplace halfway in between. We have traveled all over the country, and Alaska, but driving back and coming into the state was a feeling of “home” that I dont think I can give up. When we travel, we ask ourselves “could we live here?” since we are looking for someplace to “winter” for a few months (Feb and march) when the winter gets too long. But that is our favorite time of year, so that is a tough one. (except this year, as there is STILL snow in the woods…!) I feel bad for some who long to be in their home state, and hubs come from a different state, and THEY want to go “home” too. I think when you are young, you are adventurous, and when you get older, you are nostalgic, so it is a tough call either way. And yet, I dont understand some people who NEVER want to live someplace else, even for a little while. Guess there is still some adventure in me!

  45. I grew up in Missouri, not too far from where you live now. I moved to Iowa when I was 19 and have lived here, except for a couple of years in Wisconsin. I don’t miss my old home state. This is my home and I love it here. We have hard winters, hot summers and WIND but it’s HOME.

  46. I’m very lucky to have been able to do just what you’re discussing. After 23 yrs in So Calif, we’re now living in my home state of TN. I had forgotten (and missed) just how genuinely NICE people are here in the South. Only miss the friends we left behind in San Diego and in Jan/Feb could use some of that sunshine 🙂

  47. I’m originally from Rhode Island but I’ve been in Arizona for about 36 years. I also lived in Massachusetts when I went to college and for the first several years after I graduated. Rhode Island will always be “where I grew up” but since both my parents are deceased and both of my sisters live in Florida, Rhode Island will never be home for me again – I actually have a very had time going back there. Occasionally I do miss the beaches in the summer and I always loved Spring. I do not miss the snow and cold. Arizona is now home and probably will be for a very long time.

  48. I’m home! I’ve never really left… I live less than 15km from where I grew up.

    I grew up in one community and never left. My dad wanted a stable location – he grew up as a military kid – moving back and forth across the country throughout his childhood years. My mom moved a couple of times too, growing up and didn’t want to move her kids due to schooling – so my dad did turn down a few cross country moves/transfers. Who knows if he made the correct decision, he probably wouldn’t have been laidoff when he was if he’d taken a transfer east…

    I don’t want to move from “home” because our family is here. I think if everyone were elsewhere it might be different. A sunny warm location might be nice….

  49. I grew up in Houston, TX and don’t miss it a bit…except for the good BBQ and Tex Mex! I have fond memories of growing up there, but really like living in a state with 4 seasons and fewer people.

  50. I enjoyed reading these comments, but several things struck me: virtually everyone was from or connected to the midwest. Wonder why. A few from the west coast, one I remember from Florida. Not a word about the south. I’m originally from North Carolina and moved to Virginia. I went to college in N.C. and loved it all over again. My grandfather was there and his home was our large family’s home for all my youth. My husband and I have now looked into my grandmother’s home in South Carolina. Wonderful, beautifuly part of the country and so friendly. In between (yes, I’m another military brat), I’ve lived in Washington State, Germany, Massachusetts, New York, Kentucky, Texas, Minnesota and then we moved to Canada where we have raised our family. My parents retired to Tennessee so we spetd many visits there over decades. I miss the south very much and would return in a minute. This is in no way a reflection on all my other “homes”, but I just like it there and feel the most comfortable. I love going back; I love everything about it. Maybe some day . . .

  51. I’m originally from Erie, Pa. I moved to Central Florida in 1974 and have never been back home. My best friend that I’ve known since we were 5 is still there and we are in constant communication.

    There was a time when I would have moved back in a heartbeat, but no longer. As I age, my bones can’t even take Florida in the 30’s and 40’s let alone Erie in the zero’s and below. This past winter, my knees let me know that they DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, want to be in the LEAST BIT…. cold.

    I would like to go back to visit, but I’m not sure that will ever happen at this point.

  52. “Home” is technically St Louis, but we both feel that our home is Callaway County in Mo. , where our daughters live and our grandchildren reside… and where the house is that we are rehabbing… and we can’t wait to sell and move there…

  53. I am a fourth generation Texan and have lived in seven different states and in Europe. I miss Texas. I have been in Oklahoma for 10 years now and I miss Texas. There is something about Texas that is different from everywhere else. My second place to live would be Baton Rouge, I really did enjoy living there bunches, and the food! Wow, I do miss that. Will I ever live in Texas again, probably not, but sure do wish I lived there now or it was on the horizon.

  54. I am “home”. I was born and raised “over the mountain” in my back yard, about 3 hours away. Where I live now is equivalent to what my home town was back in the 60s when I left. It took me almost 50 years to get to this spot in the road, but I love it. It is home!

  55. I am still in my home state of New York, upstate/Central, but not in my hometown, in a valley near the Pennsylvania border. My husband and I lived in California in the ’60’s and kept going back there for six summers, but my husband always missed New York’s streams (he was a trout stream fisherman) and its mountains, so we never stayed. I have never likeed NY mostly ’cause of the bitter winters. I’m seriously hoping to move to CA within the next three years. My husband has passed away as have nearly all my family except for three younger brothers who live in Lexington, KY. I love Lexington, but their winters are still pretty tough and my arthritis has gotten steadily worse and intolerable of the cold. I visit them several times a year, especially for the Derby, and love sunshine. We get so little of it up here and hold the record for least number of sunny days!

  56. as i get older I sometime miss it a lot. from KY, and lately I want to go home and see things as I recall them. but its never what I have in my mind, in reality-I have been in TX since 1967 and now I am 61, so now TX is home.

  57. I definitely miss home. I’m a farm girl living in St. Louis County, MO. Uggh – all these people – they are EVERYWHERE. I grew up on 30 acres with horses, cows, dogs, cats, and 2 garden plots bigger than my yard here. I get lonely sometimes, even in a crowd, for someone that has the same perspective I had growing up in a rural community. It’s not just the rural v city. I also feel more “at home” in Indiana than I do in Missouri. My grandmother’s family has been in Indiana for about 5 generations.

  58. Missouri is where my home is, its where my family all live. At times I feel so isolated out here in Texas but I have my oldest daughter living here about 20 miles from me so I don’t get too lonely. I don’t know if I will stay in Texas when I retire or move back to Missouri, I don’t miss the snow, Ice, and cold. 🙂

  59. WOW – this post generated a lot of comments!

    My home state is Missouri and I have a daddy and two brothers and their families living there still – but I have never wanted to go back (except to visit twice a year.)

    When I got married I left Missouri and since then I have lived in Kansas, Colorado, Georgia, Wisconsin, Washington, California and now Virginia. After so much ‘MOVIN AROUND’ home is WHEREVER I AM! I do understand what you are saying though about thinking of “HOME” as where you started out…..as a child! 🙂

    sao in Midlothian, VA

  60. would i move back home? good question!
    a few years ago our old home built in the 1950’s (we were the first residents) was up for sale, so i got to ‘visit’ thru the pics. the outside landscaping had changed and almost all the beautiful old trees were gone, but the inside was just about the same. the kitchen had been gutted and redone, so it didn’t look as nice to me.

    LOL, yes i had dreams of moving back there to that house. it seems so much smaller than it did when i was growing up, but it would be wonderful to go back and live there again. i wonder if the pencil marks are still there where my parents measured my height as i was growing…..

  61. I lived in one house until I graduated from high school, then about 2 miles away for the next six years (my single adulthood). I literally dream of the area, and sometimes take nostalgia tours via Google satellite and street views. My 4 siblings live around there, but the older generation is all gone. I LOVE to visit, but don’t think I could live there again. After 20 years in southern California (where my parents were both from), I’ve gotten used to sunshine! (And dry air.)

    • I should have mentioned that I grew up in Seattle…quite a different climate!

  62. I grew in NJ and live in New York City when I was younger and then Boston. When I got married we moved back to NJ to raise our kids and then moved to SC when they were 12 and 14. We were only there for 3 years and I LOVED the South. When we moved to Oregon I was very unhappy because I was far from friends and most of my family. I mean I was VERY unhappy. But my husband and kids loved it.
    It is now HOME and although we love to travel, the Northwest is now home for me.

  63. What interesting posts! Great question, Judy. I was born and raised in the SF Bay Area and have lived in 2 other parts of northern Calif. Now that my husband is retired from the state, we’re ready to move out of a state that is being ruined and might go bankrupt. One thing about Calif though, if you own a house here, you can pretty much live in any other state in a bigger, better house and still put money in the bank after the Calif home’s sale! I think we’ll end up in Oregon, a green state that’s even more open-minded than Calif!

  64. Home is Louisiana to me, I have lived here all my life. I have a sister who lives in Lake Charles so I know exactly what you mean when you say it will always be home to you. It’s such a friendly town. I love seeing Baton Rouge grow, but talking to old friends who remember the old Baton Rouge, and the small town atmosphere which still exists even though we accepted 200,000 Katrina residents over 5 years ago. Folks are friendly and so southern. I even love the weather here (but love my air conditioner more in July and August). Our mild winters only require us to wear a coat for perhaps 2 weeks total per year. But mostly its my family roots and friendships that make this home. I could never move unless I packed up all my kids and sister and niece’s family and took them with me. Oh and I forgot the food! I love the food here. When I leave and come back I can’t wait for some good Louisiana food.

  65. I’m from Massachusetts, now in Oregon. No– I wouldn’t want to return there full time. I have very few family members left, cousins I could walk by without knowing them (sad thought). My husband was in the military, so we lived in New Hampshire, Southwest Harbor Maine, North Bend Oregon, Cleveland Ohio, Near Portland Oregon now. He retired 12 years ago, we choose to stay here, but when the Big retirement comes. I hope to be in North Bend Oregon again, much smaller town, alot quieter, my daughters would probably follow. I know the one in the military would for sure, the oldest too, the youngest we would have to drag alittle bit I think. So at this point in life, the green grass in my yard is just great. (but watch your step 2 little dogs make a big mess :-).

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