As children, we weren't given much choice in the matter of where to spend our holidays, Christmas in Disney world, Thanksgiving at Grandma's, or New Years in your living room watching the ball drop from Times Square. Wherever you were, chances are it was with family.
Home was a place and family were the people we spent special days with.
However, as we grow, we take on new experiences, learn from them and develop a new, abstract outlook on what home really means. We learn that family isn't about who our siblings are or even who has the same blood as us. Somewhere between believing in Santa clause and having a family of our own, we learn who our family truly is. Family are those special people that will give up their whole day to help us have a better one. Family are those who are the first to know our secrets and the last to judge our mistakes. Family are those who love us unconditionally no matter what we do or where life takes us.
Once we come to terms with who our family really is, we are able to figure out what home really means. Home isn't a house or even the city you live in, it isn't always where your parents live or even where you fall asleep every night. Home is the place your wildest dreams reside, your hopes, your pride and every bit of your future. Home comes with the feeling of unconditional love and warmth. Many can associate "home" with a smell, like grandma's chocolate chip cookies or a sound, like waves on a beach. Many things can trigger our Senses to recall memories of our idea of home.
Our "home" can often change. When a loved one moves, we often feel like a part of ourselves have gone with them. The more people we meet and memories we make, we learn that instead of having one home we can have several "homes" all over the world because in the end, home is where the heart is and where our loved ones go.