I Know that if Home Is Where My Mom Is, then My Home is Now in Heaven

If home is where my mom is, then my home is now in heaven.

I never get to go home again.

Not on Earth, anyways.

They say, “Home is where your mom is.”

Well, it’s true.

My mother died after a decade-long battle with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2013.

I know that if home is where my mom is, then my home is now in heaven.

I never get to go home again.

My dad no longer owns my childhood home.

He and my mom moved out of it right before I got married.

I no longer own my grandparents’ house where my mom grew up.

I sold it a few years ago to help pay for my grandmother’s assisted living and memory care expenses.

The girl who owns it now makes and sells amazing candles and home goods.

And I recently even sold my grandpa’s ranch where he and his mother were born. It had been in my mother’s family since 1827.

(Truth be told, I did not visit the ranch for the last decade. It hurt my heart too much to see the 1888-built farmhouse falling down. So I finally let it go.)

I visit my mom and my grandparents in the cemetery.

Every special place from my childhood and my mom’s childhood is now off limits.

Someone else now owns every home.

Now, I visit my mom and my grandparents in the cemetery where they are buried.

And, sometimes, I visit them and those special places in my dreams.

My home is now in heaven.

But I never get to go home again.

Not on Earth, anyways.

Because if home is where my mom is, then my home is now in heaven.

A version of the post was originally published September 21, 2021.