I am home. But what is home to me? If home is where your heart is, home is many places now. And not mere places, though, but persons. Without the people I love, my beloved islanders, Prince Edward Island would be nothing but another beautiful getaway, like France or Spain.
Oh, how I came to love the island, and not as I thought I would. It took time to see what makes the island a place I desire to return to, a place where something wonderful is growing and waiting to bud. Who knows what will come forth, but I want to be there when it happens.
Saskatchewan is at once familiar and foreign. I did not understand this at first, but upon reflection I realized that what makes it as foreign as Egypt is that I no longer belong here as I once did. My memory is triggered, remembering how comfortable I was here not long ago, but the new self is experiencing home as if for the first time.
And this is okay, because though I look forward to fresh experiences . . . I will always return, as long as my family remains, transforming a beautiful getaway into something much more profound. It was my nest, the place that formed me. Now it is like a delicate ringlet clipped from a child’s head and pressed into a locket, to remember the days that fostered innocence and carefree abandon.
I will not forget. No, my heart will not forget, because home is indeed where your heart is.
