'Home' Means ..... ?

Home Means Nevada Written & Music by Bertha Raffetto

Way out in the land of the setting sun,
Where the wind blows wild and free,
There's a lovely spot, just the only one
That means home sweet home to me.
If you follow the old Kit Carson trail,
Until desert meets the hills,
Oh you certainly will agree with me,
It's the place of a thousand thrills.

Whenever the sun at the close of day,
Colors all the western sky,
Oh my heart returns to the desert grey
And the mountains tow'ring high.
Where the moon beams play in shadowed glen,
With the spotted fawn and doe,
All the live long night until morning light,
Is the loveliest place I know.

Home means Nevada
Home means the hills,
Home means the sage and the pine.
Out by the Truckee, silvery rills,
Out where the sun always shines,
Here is the land which I love the best,
Fairer than all I can see.
Deep in the heart of the golden west
Home means Nevada to me.

One of the things Nevada kids learn when they enter the school system is the State song.  Although I've lived in northern Nevada for the past 36 years, I don't think of it as 'Home'.  My granddaughter and I were returning to Sparks, the final leg of 12 days of travel that included a 50th high school reunion of classmates, a Whitney family reunion, visits to cities and houses I'd once called home.  We had spent time with family and friends and now, looking out the plane window, Jess and I saw two more planes flying on the highway in the sky.  They appeared to be very close--right next to us, as in a chorus line--each of them tiered at what looked to be only a slight difference in altitude, one flying in our same direction, the second plane going in the opposite direction.  Someone else going or coming 'Home', perhaps?

In her piece, "Where is Home?", Rebbetzin Feige Twerski says, "... why is it that even as we move on to supposedly bigger and better things--careers, marriage, children, and grandchildren--the longing for one's childhood 'home' persists."  She goes on, "... when other forms of cognizance fail us, memories of 'home' are the last to go.  ...  Technical, physiological reasons are given to explain this phenomenon-- ...  --but I am convinced there is more to it than science has to offer."  With just a few clicks of my mouse, I found a surprising number of comments addressing this topic.  I am not the only one asking the question or trying to define it.

On the topic of 'Home' and where or what it is, some have said it is a feeling--a state of mind--and not a place at all.  Some referred to 'Home' in the context of a particular community, a city, a country.  Others felt that 'Home' was who you're with rather than where you are.  Many of the comments I read said that 'Home' is your past--your childhood dwelling or where there were traditions and rituals--your memories.  Some made the distinction between 'Home' and being 'At Home', as being free to be one's self, feeling safe, finding peace, a place to relax, having a sense of belonging.  For others, 'Home' involved scents and smells, or was where the mom was, where meals were shared, or where all your stuff was kept.

Where is 'Home'?  I found comments, given by individuals who had moved or traveled a lot as children or adults, different from those who had not.  Even those who had what might be considered a traditional childhood as compared to those who did not, defined 'Home' in unpredicatable terms.  Those living singly, by choice or by circumstance, spoke of 'Home' as though their idea of what it once was to them, had changed.

So...what is 'Home', ...  where is it, ...  for you?  For me, it is still something I'm choosing to ponder, taking more notice of little things that when put together, may become a thought I can try on, wear it a little bit to see if it is comfortable or true for me, even write about it again, some time.  Whatever or wherever 'Home' may be for me, it is a part of who I am.