Since my new found “retirement” from teaching I have been playfully referring to myself as “The Happy Little House Wife”...only maybe not so “little”...I have really been enjoying this time to cook, clean, exercise, and get my life in order for the next stage. Benjamin is LOVING having me home but he always reminds me “enjoy it while you can, it’s not going to last that much longer”
Having this time off has also given me time to reflect on my family and childhood. Most of my childhood was spent living in Mastic on Long Island’s south shore. I am fortunate enough to have grown up in a two parent household. My mother and father worked very hard to give my sisters and I a wonderful life. Our home was always filled with laughter, family, friends, great food, and of course love.
My mother was the perfect little house wife growing up. Even when she worked full time and spent any free time running around after the three of us (all two years apart...what was she thinking????) she still managed to place a healthy home cooked meal on the table every night. I can still remember my father stealing meatballs from her homemade sauce as it simmered on the stove when she wasn’t looking. She didn’t even get a night off until her and my father were married something like 10 years and she insisted HE take care of dinner one night a week. Thus, “Saturday Night Take Out Night” was born. My father would often comment to my husband...”we are so spoiled to be married to such wonderful cooks, aren’t we”...My husband says he misses hearing that comment to this day.
What I remember most about my childhood is how warm and inviting our home was. I have been working hard to create a similar feeling in the small apartment my husband and I currently share. In the beginning I was obsessed with having everything be new and clean and perfect but I was not achieving the overall feeling of warmth that I desired. Then I realized, its not a the physical items you place in your home but about your homes overall “state of being”. It is about the energy of your home. The positive experiences that you create within it which leave a lasting imprint. Filling your home with laughter, family, friends, great food, and of course, love, is the recipe of the perfect home.
For me, home is where ever Ben is and I look forward to us working to create a home that we can one day start a family in. I love the freedom and flexibility my sewing and quilting allows me within my home. A new set of homemade pillow cases and a new quilt on the back of the couch or wall hanging can instantly make me feel as if I have a new space. For us our first home is still perhaps a few years away but I am content to be where ever my husband is. As long as I get to come home to him our home is perfect.
In the words of my father, smiling down from heaven, “I wish you health, wealth, and the happiness to enjoy one another”
Happy Home Making...
-Jeannie Sargent
