Dear Home

Dear Home,

It’s been over a year since we started spending a lot more time together and you’ve adapted so well. You went from spending 35 hours a week alone, in tranquil peace and quiet, to having all of us around virtually 24/7.

Your clearly defined rooms became multi functional overnight – offices, classrooms, gyms/dance studios, cinemas, art studios, make shift restaurants and bars. But you retained your warmth, cosyness and familiarity that gave us all a reassurance that we would be ok.

Your garden came into its own, especially through the summer months, taking on the role of an extra room that we dressed up for special meals. It almost felt like going out!

Christmas was probably the hardest part, we’re used to you being full of friends and family, too many people squeezed round our dining room table and not enough space in the kitchen. The decorations cheered us but the rooms felt larger without the craziness of Christmas past.

Over the coming weeks we’ll start to spend more time apart. It will be a relief for us all, a change of scenery, a chance to breathe and reconnect with all the people and experiences we have missed. But we know you will always be there, to reassure, comfort and provide a haven when the world perhaps becomes a bit too much, a place to reflect on the fun times and new experiences we will have.

Thank you for being the one familiar constant throughout the craziness, for providing shelter, security and warmth when everything seemed so insecure. Our relationship will change once again but your support and reassurance will be appreciated all the more as we take our next steps back into the world.

Yours with gratitude …