Bill's Musings

      15,629 days ago, I laid down my head in my bed, a bed I shared with my brother. It was our first night on our new house, one my father built. It was July 3^rd, 1971, a Saturday night. My dad had, incredibly, built this home from scratch, the first time he ever tackled a job like this, in just over 4 months, while also working for the Royal Canadian Air Force full time. It wasn’t complete yet, but it was complete enough. And as I laid there, my dad came in and took our picture. I remember that like it was yesterday.

     Tonight, my wife and two sons and three dogs are about to have our first of many sleeps back at this very same home. We have been preparing, painting, renovating, planning, and slowly moving things and setting them up as we went. We had to wait to move so we could sell our current home….a home that we have put a lot of sweat and effort into, a home that has been in my wife’s family for over 50 years.

     To say that this is serendipity is an understatement. As a couple, my wife and I have lived in three different houses (counting our new one tonight). We bought my parent’s home first, then bought my in-law’s home, and have now moved to my dad’s baby. Every home has had an incredible emotional element to it. Previous memories crowding onto current ones. For those with Spiritual leanings, our past ghosts not so much haunt us, but live with us. My wife and I have long accepted this, and go with the emotional flow.

     This home has such a rich history for my family. Mostly, at least for me, I feel the ethereal strings to my brother Bob who passed away almost two years ago. He was a very happy guy, and when we lived here together, we played a lot and laughed so much. I have a red bowl, the only one left from a set we had as children, that my brother and I used to fight over so you could thus have the most chips or whatever treat was in the offing. The bowl contains more than food…it is a vessel which harbors the memories of my past, and contains my family ka.

     A s my parents are now frail and are slowly sailing down their own time rivers, this home has reinvigorated my feeling for them, has made me remember and understand how much I owe them, and always will. In this domicile I feel their energy, and embrace their souls. I wish they could be young enough to truly enjoy this time for the family. They will enjoy it. I am honour bound to ensure this.

      And so…..15,629 days after we began this journey, we have returned. We are home. I will sleep and dream and imagine a future for my own family, and I will remember the past memories that my family created all those days ago.

     Home. The best word in any language.