George's Question

One morning, George, a little duckling, woke up with a question in his mind. “What was the meaning of home?” he asked himself. While he ate breakfast, he asked his sister. "What is the meaning of home?" His sister pondered this for a few minutes, then she responded. "I think home is a place where the people you love live." George thanked her and waddled away. Soon he came across his grandfather. "Since you are older than me, do you know what the meaning of home is?", he asked. His grandfather responded immediately. "It is a place where you have a roof over your head." George considerd this, for it was a very different answer than what his sister had said. Then he waddled away. He decided to go for a swim to think about it, when he walked into his best friend. He thought maybe his friend knew the meaning of home, so he asked: "What do you think the meaning of home is?" His friend looked at him for a little while then said: "I think it is a place where you live, not particularly with family. You could even live all on your own, except you might be lonely." George thanked his friend and waddled away. When George jumped into the pond, he thought about everything the other ducks had told him. “I think”, he thought, “that my friend’s, sister’s and grandfather's responses together are the meaning of home.” He was satisfied that he knew what the meaning of home was. But then he realized something. They all thought something different. Maybe 'home' has lots of meanings, and everybody thinks something different! That was interesting. Then he got out of the pond, dried himself and waddled home.