Daily Prompt: When you’re away from home, what person, thing, or place do you miss the most?
I travel – at least once a month – typically for a couple of weeks. So ‘being away from home’ is a fact of life.
My concept of ‘home’ has two dimensions:
- Home of my birth – Winnipeg, Canada
- Adopted home – Mumbai, India
Yet my answer for both is simple – family and friends. And warning – this post is unabashedly sentimental!
For Canada, what do I miss the most? The every day interactions with my niece and nephew. I was there when my nephew was born and can see the ‘tween’ peaking out. My niece morphs each time I see her – each avatar is delightful though different. I miss all my family there and friends too. Getting back only every year or so I know isn’t enough – especially with kids as ‘they really do grow up fast.’
Who I miss most in Canada
For India, what I miss most is my partner. We’ve both had a second chance finding each other and do not take a moment for granted. He is my companion, best friend, partner. He is why I remain in India. I’ve also been blessed with friends that are my adopted family.
Who I miss most in India
So person, place or thing? Persons – plural! I’m always happy to unpack my bags at ‘home’.
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This is such a hard part of being an expat. As I talk more to immigrants about their lives in the USA, I see the common denominator of living between two countries and its challenges. One person I interviewed said, “Home is where you have your memories.” When your memories are in two places, you don’t have a single home. Good courage!
I don’t see living between two countries as a challenge – it is instead an incredible gift!
However I do see there can be challenges. Growing up in Canada in the late 60s/early 70s, many friends were “2nd Generation” – speaking the language of their parents alongside English. Now grown up, these “kids” have blended cultural communities and languages to create ‘3rd culture’ children.
Two friends – a Slovak Catholic and a Punjabi Hindu – had such a challenge with both sets of parents objecting when they decided to get married. After years of angst, they prevailed, got married, only to find the trouble had just begun… ‘grandparenting’ proved to also be fraught with contrasting values. The ‘grandparents’ approaches were out of synch with the 2nd gen kids values and what they wanted for their 3rd culture children. Imagine a situation when being taught racist views by your grandparents against half of your heritage?! Not easy for the 2nd gen to navigate – family is family after all!
Maybe those two aspects complicate things more: immigration and marriage. When one officially adopts another country, and when one raises kids there, things get harder. Does that seem to make sense?
Absolutely agree! Marriage isn’t between two individuals – it is between two families. Throwing multiple cultures, languages, different religions / beliefs / values into the equation makes choices around raising children a more complex mix of variables.