Some things never change.
That’s what I like most about coming home.
‘Home’ can be a very complicated concept… It gets confusing when people ask me where I call, ‘home’. It’s an emotive word and I can’t really answer the question in a single sentence.
In a day-to-day sense Europe is home… after nearly 15 years living between London and Saint Remy de Provence it gets under your skin. Strangely I don’t distinguish between the two… I am very happy in both and find them a wonderful contrast… think ‘big city mouse’ and ‘country mouse’… I am able to wear both hats and happily morph between the two very different worlds…
Sometimes I long for simplicity… to stop and stay… but that’s not going to happen so I choose to embrace the comings and going and enjoy the differences that each place has to offer.
Throw Sydney onto the mix and it’s like winning the trifecta. How beautiful this city is in its summer glory… there are so many elements that resonate deeply, that are impossible to forget despite the distances I have travelled… all so familiar, yet at the same time so different. Like comfort food… Is there anything that tastes better?
I can’t help smiling when I hear the cockatoos or the kookaburras… what a peculiarly Australian sound. The fragrance of the frangipanis reminds me of so many happy summer holidays when our children were small… Then there is the beach culture… how I miss Bondi and an early morning promenade along the coast… My memory bank is full of Aussie –ness… and being here triggers many recollections… Every thoughtful moment is a “blast from the past”
What truly make me feel at ‘home’ are the long-standing friendships. It is the shared memories, the comfort factor of growing up together… knowing each other’s history. The belly laughs from reminiscing are unbeatable…
Distance may change us… and I accept that moving countries and being exposed to new cultures can’t help but influence and shape the way we are… but time and separation don’t diminish friendship… not true friends… We may all look a little different, be older and hopefully wiser but deep down where it really counts… nothing alters…
That’s the best part about coming home… xv
Celebrating Friendship
novelists on friendship according to the wall street journal
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
The Folded Leaf by William Maxwell
The Group by Mary Mc Carthy
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
image – source unknown
