Was ist Heimat für mich?

« Was ist Heimat für mich? home for me was my granddad's house.

being from an english mother and an italian father, i have never felt home in a country or a town.

We don't have that patriotic feeling since my father, my mother and I have parents from all around the world.

But my grandfather's house was that home for us.

A small world surrounded by the rest of England.

That house in the forest was my Heimat because of the peace and calm it gave me.

A place where you couldn't be bothered or surprised by the outside world.

A place that was familiar.

So familiar that you could walk around with your eyes closed and know where you are.

A place I knew so well that i can close my eyes and still remember the smell, the plants and even the feeling of walking up the stairs.

Maybe Heimat wasn’t the house, but the atmosphere.

My grand father worked hard for this house to be a calm and relaxing place. Or again, maybe it was just him that made it like.... »