hometown

I've been feeling a mixture of emotions recently in regards to the word "home." I remember feeling this way at the beginning of my time at Westminster. Is it okay to call Nashville home? When and how does a place become home?

In my wonderings, I've thought of several potential criteria for defining a new place as home, such as:
-if one can find their way around the new place without too much effort, but I decided that wasn't a safe bet, upon thinking of Pittsburgh
-if one knows all the "cool" places to hang out, but that didn't seem valid either

And then two interesting things happened:

I was having a conversation with a pastor I had just met, and we were discussing how my roommate with the bike injury was doing. I said something to the effect of: "She's doing well, especially since she just moved back home last week." We talked a bit longer about it, and then with a confused look on his face, he asked me what home she had returned too. Without hesitation I replied that she had come back to the Cabana, the house we share in East Nashville. He then explained that his confusion came from me calling that her home. "Most YAVs aren't calling Nashville 'home' only a month or two in," he said with a smile.

While watching the Colts play(and win!) in Nashville, I felt a strong pang of ownership each time the NBC cameras showed downtown, the pedestrian bridge, an overview of the illuminated city, or even a view of the river. It was my city they were in. I repeated shared with my roommates that I love this place, my home.

It seems that whatever qualifications a place needs to become a "home" for me have been met. I am happy here, feeling settled, loved, and welcomed. I love the South, the new friends I've made, and even the Titans a little bit. 5358 will always be my home, just as Westminster will always be. And now Nashville holds a spot on that list; on my list of places my heart will always belong.