What does the word HOME evoke for you when you hear it? Does an image pop into your head and a smile grace your face?

I have 4 homes and at times, more.

I was born in Lebanon and sadly left when I was very young. Not old enough to have been marked by memories of war but old enough to remember my grandmother’s garden with its lavender bush and grapes draped over the trellis in the back of the house. Old enough to remember her jam cake and the fact that she was always well put together (every hair in place and always wearing lipstick). I also remember the innumerable summers spent in her home with my brother and sister and the cousins. Her home was my home.

Greece became the shelter from the civil war brewing in Lebanon and our “temporary” home. I say temporary because mom and dad used to say “it is only for one year”. Eleven years later, Athens had become home. It was the place I met my best friend at the age of 6 and some 35 years later is still my best friend. The place where I developed my first crush on the wrong boy. The place that I return to years later because it has a string attached to my heart.

Toronto is home now. I have lived here the majority of my life, that is if you count the number of years, it is the longest I have been somewhere.  I appreciate the opportunities that this home has afforded me: family, friends, the ability to travel and experience different cultures, a fantastic restaurant scene and so much more.

As I look to the future, I know that I will make Paris my next home. I am drawn to everything that city has to offer and the way I feel when I am there.