Love is just another word for home.

Less than two weeks after Aaron and I were married, we moved to Nashville. I had no friends, no church, no job. I knew one person, and he slept in my bed. That was it. It was really hard on me. The house my parents live in is the same one I came home to from the hospital. I went to school with the same kids for 13 years, many of whom I still consider good friends. I’ve always been surrounded by people. People I love, people who love me, people with whom I shared life. Nashville seemed foreign and cold, full of people who didn’t know or care about me at all. I was sad. (On the flip side, this time was really good for our marriage. Going out on our own and only having each other to depend on made us a strong couple, and fast. But that’s another post for another day.) Slowly, we met people. We got involved in a young married couples bible study. We made friends at church and work. We found people in similar life circumstances, people we could relate to and bond with. We had acquaintances, then friends. Then good friends. People who slowly became a part of our every day lives. Friends we could drop in on unannounced. Couples we could travel with and still be friends afterward. Families who would help us move in exchange for free babysitting. In the matter of a couple of years, we’d gone from a lonely couple in a tiny apartment to a vital part of a community. And before I knew it, I had a new family. It’s hard on me to be so far from my parents and relatives. Every single member of my extended family lives within 50 miles of each other. I grew up in a world of huge family get-togethers on every birthday and holiday. Now, we can’t be there for that. We can’t fly to Dallas for Easter, or New Year’s, or Thanksgiving. But we have family here with whom we can celebrate those occasions. We have huge Easter potlucks and blow-out New Year’s Eve parties and adopted cousin Thanksgivings. Recipes I’ve gotten from my Nashville friends are written in the family cookbook, right next to Nanny’s “You Won’t Believe It” cookies and Aunt Josephine’s fried chicken recipe that includes giving your husband the keys and a map to KFC. As I get geared up for the holidays, I look forward to traveling to Dallas with great anticipation. That family time means so much to me, and now that we’re so far away it’s the only face time I get with many of my relatives. I am planning parties for the high school friends and poker games with the grandparents. But at the same time, I look forward to celebrating with my Nashville family. We’ll have a spooky supper club next week and a mini-Thanksgiving and a blow-out New Year’s, as always. Those events and celebrations are as much a part of my life now as Christmas morning with my parents and Christmas dinner with Aaron’s. The holidays are a time for family, and I am beyond blessed to have such a large one.