Walking through the entrance of this foreign place, I knew I would never be able to call it “home.”

I could, however, recognize most of the belongings cluttered around this place: furniture, clothes, dishes, old pictures; but this was not a place I knew.

A house is not a home, and what I had called my home for nearly two decades was gone from my life in a blink of an eye.

Moving my fingers across the rough-grain banisters and eggshell-white walls of this place, it all felt different to me.

This was definitely not the place I had grown up, learned how to ride a bike or spent summer days playing football.

Time has a funny habit of slipping away, and the things you thought would always be there turns out to only be temporary.

As I spent Spring Break in this new atmosphere, surrounded by only things that seemed remotely familiar, it occurred to me that I should have cherished what I had when it was there.

There have been tons of clichés about treasuring people while their still around, and I’ve grown up with the idea to cherish loved ones.

Knowing the people around you before it is too late is a common idea, but sometimes losing something that has been a part of your life for so long can hurt just as bad.

I firmly believe that we should hold onto the memories of people and the interactions we have with them, but this is an idea we can apply to more abstract things – things you would never think of.

A home, for example, you have had for most of your life, can be gone before you know it, and you’ll spend a week wondering where your childhood memories went.

These are parts of your life that you’ll carry with you for the rest of your days, and if you do not realize how important they are when it’s there, it could be a great mistake.

I do not want to say that a home is just as important as a person, but it can still have the same impact when it is suddenly gone.

A house is not a home, and a home is an important aspect of any person’s life.

Where you live, where you grow up, where you can go to when you’re lost, all of that helps define who you are as a person.

Without this home I would not have started playing football in my backyard and found that I loved to play sports.

Without this home, I would not have had a place to go to when I came home from college, a place I knew would be waiting for me.

Without this home, I would not have had memories that define who I am as a person.

Take some time and remember what is important to you and what would happen if suddenly, it was all gone.

Bob Galuski is a junior English major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]