While it is a common occurrence in Altzheimer's patients, as her daughter who so desperately wanted her back, it always saddened me. I wanted her home of longing to be the one she created for me.
On another level though, I totally understood.
The ache of home lives in all of us. Places become a part of who are. Maya Angelou
I just finished reading Returning Home by Jerry Burger. In the book, Burger explains the psychology around revisiting childhood homes and shares respondents' experiences of such visits. It is a fascinating read.
Wanting to revisit childhood homes is quite common.
Lately I have been reminiscing about my childhood years. Maybe it is that my siblings and I are getting older and part of our conversations lately always seem to be connected to when we were young.
I want to revisit the places I have lived.
My family moved five times in my first 18 years. Yet there are only three homes that I long to visit; the houses I lived in between the ages of 5-12. Burger explains this phenomenon in child development theory. We form our identity between the ages of five and twelve.
My longing to go back and see places I haven't laid eyes on in over forty years is about connecting to the past and perhaps remembering that little me is still a part of older me.
Never being a very patient soul and not being able to take a road trip in the next day or so, I used Google.
I spent hours on google maps on a trip down memory lane. I knew one of the homes has been torn down but I zoomed into the landscape. I remembered myself doing cartwheel after cartwheel down the hill in the enormous front yard and then collapsing as the world spun. The other two houses equally enamored me as I remembered the little girl in me.
It was a fun trip on the internet but I plan on getting there soon and maybe even trying a few cartwheels.
Have you ever longed to go home?
Me in the front yard of the house that no longer stands!
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