2025/Armour-

Home is a feeling. For many people, that feeling may be tied to a place, a certain tract of land where their family house stands, but then you realize that that statement contradicts itself. The place is not the home. Home is not a physical thing, it’s often a feeling tied to a place, to a people. However these ties are not permanent and instead are ever shifting and changing.

I have lived in many places throughout my life, from the eastern seaboard to East Asia but not much in between. I had scaled Tokyo Tower at 8, and it probably caused my fear of heights. I fled from Hurricane Urma at 10 and I, along with many others, underwent the challenges of Covid-19 at 12. These events all occurred across my many different “homes”. When I lived in Tokyo, when I enjoyed the sun in Tampa, and when I explored the creek in Dayton. And now I believe these places were my home at least for a moment. They shaped me in many ways, but they have one thing a true home lacks. Connection.

Along the way, I had made many friends and connections. But each time I moved used to mean an end to those connections, no words, not even a text could be sent. And that’s okay. And though friends come and go, one connection in my life has remained, despite the highs and lows that comes with moving. This constant source has been my family in a rural Pennsylvania town. .This town is called Franklin, a place of great importance to me and my family. But not because of the location itself, but the familial history tied to it. It’s the place where my Mom grew up , where she and my Dad met, where many of my holidays have been spent. It is a place where my Grandma lived her entire life. And,of course, there's a house tied to that life in Franklin

The house was built by my grandparents, then my uncle eventually bought it. It is and has been a core meeting place for my family and family friends. We’ve had Christmases, Easter, but especially Thanksgiving at that home. Each time I go there, I can remember a thousand memories I've made. It’s where many family members first met me, it’s where my Grandma used to sling us whipped cream on Thanksgiving. It’s where I have always been when family is in need or even just to visit those we hold dear.

So what is home to me?

So far my home has been my family, the structure of a house that my grandparents grew and cared for. But that's not all, my home may not be there forever. That feeling of ease and comfort can be built anywhere. The thing that makes that feeling of “home” special, is the experiences it takes to make a place “home.” It includes the good, the bad, the mundane. It may take weeks, months, most likely years to build. However, my home is what I make it. And for now I’d say this small family town in Pennsylvania is as “home” to me as it can get.