“Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.”

James Baldwin

I created this painting after learning that my parents had decided to sell our childhood home. I feel sadness over the loss of a house that carries the memories that were created in it. My parents created a home for me and my siblings. I don’t feel sad about leaving this house behind, though. My parents sold this house because they decided to purchase my dad’s childhood home. My grandfather came from very little and he worked hard to provide everything for his family. I learned a lot about my grandpa after he passed away. He gave his heart and soul to his work and to his family. He gave everything to create a home, and in my parents’ selling of my childhood home, they purchased a different childhood home of mine. I don’t feel sad about leaving this house because my childhood memories exist in this home as much as they exist in my grandparents’ home.

Growing up on Lake Street, I would’ve never expected to feel so at peace with the selling of this house. I feel at peace with this because I know even stronger memories exist in the White Swan Drive house. I walk into White Swan Drive in my mind and smell garlic, olive oil, and greenhouse. I feel my grandma hugging me. I hear the roaring laughter of my cousins and my uncles and aunts coming from down the hallway. I see artifacts kept as tokens from trips taken all around the world. I taste pepperoncini the way my grandpa used to make it (too much garlic and spice, exactly right). I feel all these things every time I picture White Swan Drive. I’m not sad that my parents sold our childhood house because I know I’ll still be coming home.