going home

in less than 48 hours, i will be home. misty and i fly out saturday morning, arriving in la at 11:45. Just in time to hit in-n-out for lunch on the way home. it is a part of my history.....in-n-out. besides my immediate family, the thing i miss most about home is in-n-out. they make the best hamburgers and fries ever. such a simple thing, hamburger, lettuce, grilled onions, condiments and a bun. nothing makes me feel like i am home better than that stupid hamburger. i have been gone for 21 yrs, but duarte will always be home to me. don't get me wrong, i am so happy i made the choice to raise my kids here, in alabama, but home is home. the place you grew up. where you made all those idiotic mistakes, but your family loved you anyway. where i learned to ride a horse, what an awesome christmas that was. where sheila and i were pushed into the half filled pool so that neither one of us could say we went in first. ( we dug that pool ourselves, dad is an amazing designer) we learned to hammer a nail, put up sheetrock, water that stupid garden. sheila became the one with the green thumb, put me in the kitchen any day, everyone knows how i love to bake. building onto the original house took forever...or at least we thought so. the fire in the stairwell, being scared to death with the roof going on, so many saturdays spent with friends and family working on the house. my senior year, sheila and i finally had our own bedrooms. i had baby blue walls with thick chocolate carpet. my dream room, what can i say, it was the 70's. desiree lives in my old bedroom now. she has done a great job redecorating it. the whole addition has been remodeled. dad again with his visions. a home for mom and dad now. sheila and her family living downstairs. i am excited yet anxious at the same time about going home. i am planning on spending time with my dad and mom, my family...sister, brother in law, nieces, nephew and of course the great niece and new nephew, with my kids there too. all of my immediate and extended family together, leaning on each other for love and support. for whatever reason god has brought us together, this will be a wonderful memory that all of us can put away in our hearts to draw on later....so, lets get on with it. california here i come, in-n-out my first stop!