As a child, I was raised in what was considered a “broken home” by many people. My parents separated when I was young and were divorced by the time I had finished second grade. To others, shuffling my belongings back and forth between two homes was thought of as a hassle and I was often asked “Which house do you consider to be home?” Being only 8 years old, I didn’t really have an answer to this simple question. I knew that both houses were considered my home, but I never really understood the true meaning of calling a place your home until I had gone to boarding school and been away from both of the houses in which I lived.

Being away from a place I had called home for ten years gave me my sense of identity and allowed me to realize that I would not be who I am today without my family and friends. It was all the people I had always been surrounded by that gave me a feeling of belonging and the security to become who I strived to be. It was at this time, that I realized that it wasn't a specific building that I considered a home; it was the people that surrounded me that made environments feel like home. Packing a bag to bring to either my mom’s or dad’s house never felt out of the ordinary to me. It was the people not only in those houses, but everyone else in my life that made me feel like I was “at home.” I could be in any environment and still feel like I was home as long as I was around those I loved and cherished.

I felt more at home when I was in the woods with my dad and uncle on camping trips than I ever did in our own yard. It was the memories we made around the campfire talking about everything under the sun and our long trips on four-wheelers in the blistering summer days that made our cabins “home.” It was the closeness of our family while watching football games together, every Sunday afternoon followed by an Italian dinner around a table a bit too small for us all to squeeze into that made our so-called “broken” family whole again and bound us together.

So, whether you grew up in a traditional family or one that is considered atypical, it isn’t necessarily a building that makes you feel at home, it is more often the people that create a sense of being home wherever you may be. Realizing that loved ones are the building blocks of my life had a bigger impact on my life than any cement block ever could.