The Personal Sense of "Home"

Ideally, home is a place of relaxation, comfort, and self expression. For some, this is signified by a building or a place or a specific memory. Upon reflecting where my home is, I realized that I consider many places my home. The clearest connection between all of them is that they are all spaces that I share with my extended family on my dad's side. Growing up, my house served as the hub for family gatherings, and year after year, Christmas and Easter celebrations would be held in our living room. These family get-togethers are the root of some of my favorite memories in the house.

While it might be logical that the house I grew up in (and the house that my dad and his siblings grew up in) would be what I most strongly associate with home, it's not. What I most frequently think of when I imagine home is the family lake cabin on Deer Lake, which is shared between my grandpa, my family, and my dad's siblings and their families. It's here at the lake that I first experienced the freedom to spend my time as I pleased. It's where I learned how to waterski, where I caught my first fish, and where I got countless splinters on our old wooden dock as a small child. More recently, it's where my dad taught me to drive the boat, and it was where I spent most of my free time this last summer.
Most importantly, though, our lake cabin has always been a place where I get to be with my family, who truly make it home.

Above is a selection from in-class sketches which depict my home. On the left is my house in Spokane, and on the right is my family's lake cabin at Deer Lake. Below is a photo of our lake cabin, taken from the end of the dock.