My Front Porch

I love my home. Every single room in it has provided me and my family with special memories. I love all of the funny conversations that have happened around the dining room table and the late night talks that have happened in each of my children's bedrooms. I have enjoyed cooking great meals in my kitchen and watching my favorite movies in our family room. Perhaps my most favorite place, however, is our front porch.
When I was looking for houses to move my family to many years ago it didn't even enter my mind to insist on a house with a front porch. Now I know better. I have grown to love having a front porch almost as much as I love having indoor plumbing. (Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration!) I didn't know when I bought this house the endless hours I would spend swinging or sitting on the porch. I didn't know how many books would get read or how many blankets would be knit on the front porch. And I certainly couldn't have guessed how many friendships would be started and strengnthened on my porch.
One of the biggest reasons that I have grown to love my front porch is that it has become a gathering place for the people I love the most. I have countless memories of summer nights spent talking with a close friend or one of my children on the porch. Hours of games have been played, tears have been shed, and laughter has been shared on our porch. When my oldest daughter decided to learn to play the guitar it was the front porch that heard her practice hour after hour. When my son got his first girlfriend it was the front porch that listened to their nightly telephone conversations. When my neighbors moved onto the street fifteen years ago our front porch was the spot for our first glass of lemonade together.
My front porch has also become my favorite place to be quiet and think. I love the morning hours on my porch after everyone has gone off to school and work. I have spent many mornings worrying about my children or dreaming about our next family vacation. Give me a cup of coffee, my journal, and a great book and I can spend entire days on the front porch. No where has been quite as inviting and serene as our porch. I honestly cannot imagine my home or the memories of the last twenty years without it.