What home means to me

When I’m at home I feel safe and closer to my family and friends. The smell reminds me of my family, and I have the comfort of knowing that my family and friends are ok. Do you ever feel like that? When I go to the stables where I ride, I feel safe, and I’m not worried around the horses because I know that they can sense my feelings if I’m worried or scared about anything, and the people and coaches are so nice, and they help with everything. When I’m home it sounds like silence, peacefulness and laughter all around, but when I’m at my friends’ houses, I hear cars everywhere and I’m not used to it, and I miss my home. Also, the smell of my friends’ house doesn’t smell like mine so then I start to miss my family. If I go to a hotel with my friends’ or family it can sometimes be hard to sleep because I’m not used to the smell, the way the bed feels, the way my pillow feels, and I’ve got to bring a very special object that reminds me home along with me because it makes me feel like I’m home and reminds me of being around friends and family. I love that object so much, but I’ve also had it since I was a little, so I have many memories with it about being home. When I’m at home I like to sit on the couch and cuddle with my puppy even if she’s biting me. Where my home is, I know all my neighbours from one end of the road to the other. When I’m older I would like to volunteer some days of the week at Habitat for Humanity and help people find homes, and help build homes for them so they don’t have to live out on the streets where people don’t pay attention to them when they are looking for food and I feel so bad for the people who live in homeless shelters, or even just the streets and I wish that no one had to go through that anymore and everyone could have a home and they can be with their families and definitely not out in the terrible weather, or even trying to stay alive because they don’t really have the money for buying food and water. Where I live my friends are just 10-15 minutes away, but when I’m in Toronto where some of my cousins live, I hear cars everywhere because it’s in the city and sometimes I can’t fall asleep because I miss my home, and that’s the same when I’m at a hotel or somewhere else that I’m not used to. At least my grandparents don’t live far away so it just takes 5 minutes to get to their house and it’s also nice to see them often, and my cousins live right beside them, so I don’t have to go far to see them either. If I ever had to move away, I would be very upset for a long time because I wouldn’t want to leave my friends and family. I feel so bad for the people who live in homeless shelters, or even just the streets and I wish that no one had to go through that anymore and everyone could have a home and they can be with their families and not out in the terrible weather, or even trying to stay alive because they don’t really have the money for buying food and water. When I’m home and I look through my window and I just see nature and I don’t see all my neighbours because they don’t live 30 seconds from my house instead of where the houses are close together so it’s very peaceful, which is nice. If I ever were to visit another country, I would be upset but I’d know that my family and community would be ok while I’m gone. When I see videos of people helping homeless people it makes me very happy that people would do something like that to help other people be happy. What’s sad about people being homeless is that they would have to spend the holidays throughout the year alone in the streets and away from their own family when everyone else is having fun with their families and friends when people who are looking for a home are just outside sitting on a bench or on the streets underneath newspapers or blankets trying to fall asleep and keep warm. That is why home means so much to me.