Originally posted July 31, 2008
During long days away from home, what makes home "home" becomes, in between the pressing needs of chores written down on a list, a wonderment of longing.
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From my bubby's home, via my childhood's home.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTEstjlmQ05az7JI6zwXwtevhHTB32nppJOeKUKHhxqB7lYa2qIiuUVkRJbrHQF2fNc4yTYOaE7PiFj5Jj43IWK7VQZxSAkmCAZ_8Z6FhMxAkr6FtRn7c3_Iu4m0E-tHU6uesyLWnLH1H/s320/house-bubby's+bookcase.jpg)
From a friend's house no longer wanted.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8lOoxQg9ZOfgkDnKQUs7VOmWd2J0dbDZAeD4IvjH_78CmIrN8cHp1XSNbst68v5gs02QzC1yWJsjdTQXi65HsQ0_sMdXhDovwU_Dq8IvFG6A4V38td9M8oZOoXbZbWo4Ogp9mQubUz3_/s320/house-lamp2.jpg)
From the street - placed carefully so that everyone passing would know it was up for grabs.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOEe6jaZGy92DORD81-XlXk-ISnLTCRgQqkQD-Tv8M_a7ht_cCWPPOoOUA6A9RJhqhsmtVOQyR2KGQ2Zbhv4jTBP8sachYcwqpqaBunebKnLmA9i6qtquR8E5svhEuKYf4-LfsXsyK2RZ/s320/house-desk.jpg)
From an abandoned yeshiva summer camp.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJ97hA2ZRXpTmJYNA08JDqMueRcw2NGvzKqJjC5BODO5qRDjwmBes6Hq7QEACLjW7CkqOIGJ0zOVNXsCnNdxQQeGBj62dgLhEeHilj_nrNewpvOlDmX_Vks58Bz3b0DzqwQzqUunrUcAP/s320/house-yeshiva.jpg)
From a long-lost cousin and painter in Moscow, smuggled to me in the late 1970s before Gorbachev and glasnost.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gDXW0jXYgrhJczUnT1XqJyfT8_3sCuoQtAtgpKETy9zrhBJpgJ_jBULA2YSYRzWvDEBCy6FiRkV5zP5fnox1t3l6mo83HidzY5cEZCB2Teb1_TV3nZZNYC-lNzoC4Hjah_2c23vYZVpW/s320/house-russian+painting.jpg)
From a roommate who moved west in 1979.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU3sUennzBIOVXtqfeFGKboDvh5U0nImvx0X6zGc4H7H7Z2LKgwK0mTsLzffFBCKBOKzq0l5RODw8vnlkPiV-v7YahWLZQcc8yZiY6l5hvIbYTF7sckhZjgp9Q_i-4uxMMkP7IDqChw8m6/s320/house-lamp1.jpg)
From a neighbor. (The pillows were $2.50 each at a Church basement sale on 37th Street.)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnA3NeaYLCr84AnwJRYQQ4xDA9k4phgGCFhXIIk81Y-BxC2u9Q_h2LT25HY23vJ7udEk4eBjPPTfN0c0yeLl0NYCjfbGXoZeG23QrENUV36o-lreCCMECFmJ1UUwqJAYFr_iRQwi8wq-4/s320/house-sofa.jpg)
From Florence's ex-girlfriend.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcmNd6CrxO18mTj4xSpoKmAQrZkwZMWMXFmFuJ0EOzzNTPulD3pISN_4Y0c_5hhT4qH_tP1xm8PAfEPRZtoqzIRYFcyUjL2rMe5YvhJbMl10w-RXq3UHg-5OmNCEYaHr9VSbrMecU33rVn/s320/house-mimi's+chair.jpg)
1. From Florence's other ex-girlfriend - a recipe from Florence's mother-in-law given to said ex-girlfriend one evening in 1947 at my parents' apartment in Knickerbocker Village. 2. From a temp job in 1978 - Mapplethorpe portraits of Lisa Lyon's biceps. 3. From a former boss in 1997, an internet joke of a meditation on killing someone to reduce stress. 4. Magnets from my roommate who lived here at 17 and has, in her forties, since returned.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAdvv3IGsfvACWvOT9UMk8JGvvIjAyO5hM4EdqirxFj2Q6aZOZBF_p-cpg2qptr5wLnwIvcDJN9fP8i3YF_JA3kuClFe_sEYqdzHlLmPJk2thjUOtDMT4eq-bjI_s8-erB85vHtrr_jxD_/s320/house-recipe.jpg)