Lessons on home

I recently enjoyed a long overdue get together with an old high school friend and her family in South Carolina. I’d planned on taking Brisco along, and as I began trying to pick the travel dates, I wondered how we would fit it in, between ballgames and banquets and special editions. As it turned out, we missed a little of all three. But the time we spent with my friend and her family was well worth it. And the joy of having my newly-discovered traveling buddy at my side brought a week’s worth of cherished memories and a few simple lessons on home.

As the countdown for our departure began, Brisco was clearly anticipating his first ride in an airplane. “I’m really excited to ride in an airplane!” he would say in such a grown up manner that it caught me off guard each time he said it. And while his enthusiasm about our means of getting there was apparent, mine was tentative, praying he’d turn into the little angel that always seems to be hiding just beneath his cherub-like face.

As it turned out, I had little reason to worry. My boy was almost as grown up about his experience as his mom, buckling his own seat belt, keeping himself entertained, and carefully following the captain’s orders. Lesson One: Away from home, even the youngest in the family can behave like the oldest.

Right off the bat, Brisco became buddies with my friend‘s children. With two girls and two boys ranging from ages two to thirteen, he had his pick of the best of both worlds. From bubbles and baseball to hop scotch and hula hoops, every day was an adventure. Lesson Two: Five kids in one house means there’s always someone to play with.

Every adventure, however, doesn’t always have a happy ending. Brisco learned this the hard way (which is his nature) when he attempted to teach Beckett, the two year old, how to “arm bat” a 12 inch beach ball inside the house. Lesson Three: There is a reason most kids are not allowed to play ball in the house. Unfortunately for the picture frame, he learned this lesson a split second too late.

Lesson Four: Having sisters means not blowing your nose in the kiddie pool.

As much fun as Brisco was having in “Souff Carolina”, he woke up on the last day bright eyed and said, “Are we going on the airplane today?” It seemed my boy might be ready to go home. And while he was missing his dad, his brother, his house and his back yard, when it came time to tell his new friends goodbye, there wasn’t a dry eye in the bunch. Lesson Five: Saying goodbye is always hard, even when you’re excited about where you’re going.

When we first started planning this trip, I wasn’t sure how Brisco would fare in someone else’s home. He’s a kid, after all, and all boy at that. But in our time away, I discovered that someone else’s home really isn’t that much different from our own. And after four days and nights of friendship and fun, the lessons we learned are ones that will remind us of why we went in the first place.

Relationships are the most powerful forces in the universe. Anyone who doubts that should watch a four year old shed tears over leaving a family he met only days earlier. Lessons on home are lessons on life, and the most important ones, I watched my son learn first hand: that home is really about the people, not the place; that a heart can be pulled both to go and to stay; and that a person can feel at home, even when their own is miles away.

And that’s All in a day’s work!