Where the Heart Is

When I think of home I think of my family. Me, my mom, my dad, my brother, and my dogs. I think of my family’s cozy little ski cabin at Mount Cain. I think of the history of my family’s land. My family lives on a property that we have owned for many generations. First, long ago the ‘Namgis used the area. Later my grandma’s family, the Tarkkanens came from Finland to find a better life. The Tarkkanens settled in Sointula and on the property we now call home. In fact, my great, great, great grandpa Kaale Tarkkanen’s grave sits on top of a hill near my house. Elsie Tarkanen (whom I’m named after) married Roy Wooldridge and had one daughter, Linda Wooldridge who married Stephen Green. They had two kids, a son and a daughter. Their son, Michael Green married a girl named Catherine Stevenson. Three years later my brother, Connor was born, then I, Amelia Elsie Lily Green was born three years after my brother. Now my family of four (plus my beloved dogs) live in a house with a beautiful garden, chickens, and a yard filled with sticks and dog toys. My home is home because of all these things, but mostly my home is home because if the people who live with me. This is a picture of me, my dad, my cousin, and my grandma standing next to my great, great, great, grandpa’s grave. Home isn’t always one place. Every winter my family spends mostly every weekend at our homey little ski cabin at Mount Cain. At Mount Cain I feel free, just me, my family and the mountain. That is why Mount Cain is home. It doesn’t matter where I am, home is wherever my family is. They say “home is where the heart is” then my heart is always with my family.