I often find myself daydreaming of the houses of my childhood:  the house I grew up in, Grandmother's house, which was my second home, the family homeplace in Wingate and Granny B.'s (Aunt Billie) house in Wilmington.  These are all places where I felt safe and secure.  Places filled with wonderful memories of times gone by.  They each had such unique character and history to them.  Other people live there now and I sometimes find myself jealous of that. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the house that we live in now.  It's just that I wonder what it would be like if we lived in one of the family homes.  How would my daily routine be different?  Many times, especially when I am in the kitchen, I imagine myself in one of those kitchens.  Washing dishes, I think of what the view out of the kitchen window....seeing the magnolia tree in Wingate or Dad's vegetable garden in Monroe or the hundreds of camellias in Wilmington.

I think about the renovations done on each of these houses when they were in the family.  I wonder if the owners have any interest in knowing them?  And what renovations have the current owners made?  It would be interesting to see and then ask myself if I would change it back if I bought the house one day. 

It is the history of the houses that I love so much.  The stories of the people who lived there, who created life there.  The family gatherings, the births, the deaths.  These were places where people set down roots and lived their lives.  I think that's what I'm lacking right now.  As much as I love my house, I do ask myself a lot if this is the one?  Is this where I need to root myself.  I don't know, but at 44 I think I need to figure that out while there's still time to make roots.  Ah, well.

Who knows.  Maybe one day I will find myself in one of these houses again.  If I ever win the big lottery, you can bet that I'll end up in one of these places LOL  Or maybe I will just find the perfect home for us?  Only time will tell.