No matter where John and I call HOME, there is that place that will always be my first and forever HOME…
That place where I grew up,
A place where I can walk "down the hill" to see Granny,
That spot where I can run "across the road" to see my sister and her family,
That corner of the world where I can drive "just down the road" to see my brother and his wife.
God's Country…as my mama always calls it.
I tend to agree.

Maybe it takes getting a little older, a little wiser, a little more appreciative…to really realize just what HOME is all about.  It's that place that no matter what is going on, we all come together, and although some of us (ok, one of us) lives a bit farther away…well, it's just as though we were all together every day before.  That's when HOME is filled with FAMILY. 

I was just there…in this place…my HOME away from HOME.
And, we all came together to rally around my daddy to cheer him on as he had hip replacement surgery.
Although we were concerned about him, the waiting and the anticipation were somehow eased just because we were all together.  Seems like just yesterday morning when we were all heading to the hospital with him at 4am.  A friend called me during my drive down to my parents on the day before, and something she said really struck me.  She was surprised that we were all going that next morning for the surgery.  She was thinking one of us would go with him for the surgery, and then, everyone else would go later in the day.  I couldn't help but smile as I expressed my surprise at this thought…we really had not even planned that we would all go…it was just a given.  My sweet friend said, "Ann-Margaret, that is really something…you have a very special family.  So many families are not like this.  You are ALL going to be there to wait together."  I've really thought alot about what she said.  It was just a given that we would be there for my mom and for each other…maybe "just a given", but I like to call it a blessing.  🙂

And, speaking of blessings…I am happy to report that my daddy went through the surgery just fine and is on the road to recovery.  He's determined to be heading up that hill at Auburn with my nephew, brother-in-law, and their football buddies as soon as football season rolls around!

I hope you have a place in your heart that you will always call HOME!

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