“When are you coming home?”

“There are places I'll remember

All my life though some have changed

Some forever not for better

Some have gone and some remain

All these places had their moments

With lovers and friends I still can recall

Some are dead and some are living

In my life I've loved them all”

John Lennon/Paul McCartney

For many parents and children in the world, knowing when a person will be home, or seen again, is a very common question. There were times, yes many decades ago, when people didn’t move far from where they grew up. Things are much different today as we are scattered throughout the country and the world.

But even though a physical presence may not be something that can happen as frequently as we would like, we can always keep the moments that made us who we are in our hearts. It’s often said that you can never go home again, and in some ways that’s true; but there is always something about going to where you have been---and invested a large part of your life---that can never be forgotten. I think for many of us we all live for these moments.

Recently I went home to visit my Dad; yes he is getting older, but I can say with absolute certainty, he is probably the nicest, kindest person I know and is doing well for what he has been through. It’s very obvious he misses my Mom, as we all do, but he is finding his way at this time without her physically in his presence.

While I was there I said to my Dad, “I want to go see Mom.” Before I got the words out, and you have to understand my Dad does not hear well anymore, he said, “That would be nice.” It was. We didn’t spend a ton of time at the cemetery but long enough for me to have a conversation (yes it was in my head) and know that somehow, someway, she knew I was there. If not, she made me think she knew I was there.

This month, on July 28, 1980, I packed up my 1977 yellow Camaro and moved to Chicago; it was a big move for a kid who didn’t have a job, was not sure how it would go being so far from home, and whether it was the move for me. There have been times when I still ask myself the same question, but more than 30 years later, I know I can still go home. It’s just a different place then when I left it more than half a lifetime ago.

The photo above was taken in Lisle, IL at the “Eyes to the Sky Fair” a few weeks ago. Whereas you will likely see other photos of balloons in upcoming “Snap.Shot’s,” I know just like in the Wizard of Oz, when you click your heels three times, and hop on a plane, car, or even hot air balloon, you really can go home again.

Thanks for stopping by.