Welcome home! That’s the phrase that I’ve either heard, felt, or thought within this past week.

While I considered living in Sumter, SC as being back home, as I think about it, Columbia, SC is more so my home. I was born in Sumter and lived there with my parents until I was 10 years old. My aunt (mother’s sister) had a heart attack somewhere around 1989/1990 and that is when my mother decided that she needed to live closer to her baby sister, so we moved to Columbia. From the 6th grade through my adulthood I’ve lived in Columbia. I did not live anywhere else until I moved to Denmark, SC in 2015. I then moved again to Hartsville, SC, then back to Sumter, and now I have returned HOME to Columbia. 

Well, I’m not the only one who has completed the circle back home. My oldest son, CJ, has also. CJ spent 5 years living separately from me and his little brothers. It was CJ’s choice to stay in Columbia when we moved away and he lived in some uncomfortable situations as a result. However, I told him he could always come home…no matter where I lived, there was room for him. Last June, CJ found himself needing and wanting to return home after 5 years. I was living in Sumter with my two younger boys and we were living in a two bedroom apartment. I told CJ, of course he could come live with us.

I did not have an extra room but we would make it work and we did. I told him that he could work and save his money for his own place and he didn’t have to worry about paying me anything because I didn’t have a room for him. But he helped out anyway when he could. We began talking about what the future looked like as the end of my lease was approaching. I was commuting to Columbia for work and podcasting 5-6 days a week and it was becoming very time consuming and tiring. CJ loved the idea of moving back to Columbia as he was commuting for his job as well, not to mention all of his social life was set in Columbia. We then began to plan and CJ said he would love to come home and live with me and his little brothers. 

This move is bringing many different positives into mine and my children’s lives. We are now all together. We are close to family and friends, we have gotten time back in our lives, and despite a few hiccups, we love the house we’ve moved into. I’m hoping and praying for a successful journey. I know that CJ will have to eventually go off on his own but I’m definitely going to soak up all of his presence while he’s here. I’m very happy that we’ve both circled back home. ❤