Be It Ever So Humble....

.....there's no place like home.

Last night, we went to Mass and then out to dinner with friends.  The major topic of discussion was our trip to the midwest. Terese and Greg and John and I shared our adventure stories and anecdotes amid gales of laughter and between bites of Chinese food.

I smiled so much that my cheeks hurt. How wonderful to have enough energy to be upright and relatively coherent, and able to actively participate in the lively conversation. We lingered over dinner for almost two hours, until finally everyone began yawning and had run out of stories.

As John and I drove away, suddenly I realized that even though I had traveled back to see extended family members that I cherish, when I returned, I came back HOME. These people - this place - this little town - this little church - is my home. We've lived here in this house and this city for fifteen and a half years, the longest by far of any of the places that John and I have lived since we were married. And for good reason: this is the place that we have been able to create the best balance between family/work/friends/and faith for our children and ourselves.

I often wonder what the course of my disease may have been had we been living elsewhere at the beginning of my autoimmune adventure. I may not have had such excellent medical care and quick diagnosis, or such supportive friends, or the blessings of John's stable job to ease me through difficult times. Even this wonderful moisture-laden Pacific northwest environment is soothing to this sjoggie.

Ahh. It's so good to be home.