Home is Wherever You Are

I'd like to start with lyrics from one of my favorite songs, "Home" by Jack Johnson.
"Home is wherever you are, if there's love there too."
I've always been a homebody. I like the sameness and comfort that home provides; there's nothing comparable. That's why for me, travel is bittersweet. I love seeing new places, trying new foods, and just expanding the world I live in, but I always miss whatever and whomever I leave behind.
I'm beginning to learn, however, that I cannot just call one place home. I have a home wherever in the world I can find love. What makes home special is the people who live in it, not the things. And there are people that love me all over the world, from Finland to Hawaii to Arizona and everywhere in between. When I'm with the people I love, it doesn't matter where I am. I am home.
I spent the Fourth of July weekend at a cabin with a bunch of mostly strangers I'm not exactly related too... But sort of an (it's complicated. Long story). At first I felt a bit nervous being plunged head first into a foreign family gathering. Then I met the people I was to be staying with. It didn't matter that my last name was Douglass and theirs wasn't. They treated me the same. They played pranks on me and pulled my seat out from under me. They cooked food for me and stuffed me full of homemade chocolate chip cookies and packaged mint Oreos. They played card games with me and shared their favorite chick flicks. They made me crack up with jokes like  "Elizabeth! That's so rare!" and played beanbag toss with me.  They made me feel at home. I have all kinds of stories and memories to carry with me now!
I'm back from the cabin now, but I left a piece of my heart there, and I plan on keeping it there for a while.
I'll end with some more song lyrics, this time by the amazing Mindy Gledhill.  All too soon, "I'm gonna leave this nest and give my best to the place where I grew up." I'll be off on my own, and my house will no longer be the same. But my home? Home will never change. Home will be with me, wherever I go, wherever there are people who hold the keys to the front door that is my heart.

How is your home shaped by the people you share it with?