home sweet home?

"Where's home for you?"

Today wasn't the first time this year that someone had asked us this question. The short answer is, "Our flat here on campus!"

The longer answer is more complicated. Our home church is in Nancy, our extended-family-homes are in Cardington and Jouy-le-Moutier (where our parents live) ... and here we are really in a transitional phase, despite being very happy in our flat and in the college community.

Another aspect of "what makes home" which is important - but hard to explain - for me is what kind of building I'm living in. When I was living in a flat in France it never seemed quite as much "home" as my parents' home had done when I was growing up. I thought that when I was married that would change, because I'd be living in a family again, and to some extent it did ... but I never felt as entirely at home as I remembered having done as a child.

I think that it comes from something which I suspect is a bit English. A flat never seems as much home to me as a house does. Though again, what it is about a house that makes it homelier is hard to specify. I think our flat here on campus feels a lot like a house because though it is all on the ground floor, we don't have anyone living over us, and in fact we rarely hear the neighbours, which was not something we could say about our flat in Nancy! Plus we have our own front door, and when it isn't too muddy to do so we can even park our car just outside it!

What makes a place feel like home for you?