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I was looking through my photo library for a video of Daphne, my oldest child, pulling out her first loose tooth. Right next to brave extraction was another video - the still frame showing the girls and me - and I knew what it was, smiling before I even pressed play.
I remember propping up the phone on the island while we danced in our new, but empty house. We were happy to be home and everything we did felt celebratory in the wake of Hurricane Florence, which hit us just days after closing. Though our POD was yet to be delivered and we were sitting on beach chairs and sleeping on air mattresses, we were grateful to be safe at home.
I didn't post the video then, feeling silly being recorded as I always do. Now, hearing our laughter, I remember that appearance is secondary to the sentiment. The air is thick with thankfulness in those few seconds and so I'm sharing it in the hopes that you can relate to the feeling when a home wraps its arms around you.
It is in these moments that we realize that home is so much more than a property address and so, for a while, I can focus on the haven my home is, not the improvements I want to make on it.