More Than Just a House

A home is not just a place with brick walls and a roof. It’s where I can always be myself. A few years ago, I moved from Jamaica to my new home in Canada. Although it is a different house in a different country, it's still very much home. At first, I didn’t understand why we had to move from our home, as Jamaica was warm and I loved it there. However, over time I have grown to know that a home is not just a place you live in, it’s where you feel safe, and where you are loved by everyone around you. Although the items in our house help to make it a home, such as the basement filled with my sister's favorite dolls, and my bedroom with books and clothes. Home is more than these things. It’s enjoying movie nights with my family, and the sweet aroma of my mom’s curried chicken for dinner, the scent that fills the house so much that I can smell her cooking all the way from the basement. I am happy that my home is love, my home is kindness, and my home is gentleness. Home is also a nice, cozy place that fills me with warmth. It’s like a greeting after a long day of hard work. We love to have fun game nights. We play a lot of games and cheer on our teams. It’s like a literal party going on for days. In our kitchen, we chat about our day and my sister will always take the opportunity to help my mom cook. She’s obsessed with it. Now I have fully understood why we moved from Jamaica to Canada and I am ok with it. I now love every single Christmas because my family visits me during the break, and we have so much fun! I love every summer, because either people come to us for the summer, or we visit them! A home isn’t just a “house.” A home is like three different realities outside of the world.