I remember the first time I drove home from school. I couldn’t wait to pull into my driveway and open up the door to the familiar sounds of my family and the ever-present smell of candles burning. My mom would be the first one to yell “She’s home!” and wrap me in a hug, the rest of the family not far behind her. A weekend spent at home always feels like exactly what I needed, to take a break from school and the stress of college and just be. I think that’s because, for a while, it’s your family who knows you better than anyone else. They know what you love and what gets under your skin. They know how to make your day, and how you like to be woken up in the morning. They know all of your little habits, and they know all of your favorites things, movies, food, songs, all that.

But, at some point while you’re away at college, you find your people. And then it’s not just your family who knows you best. Now you have friends that do too. Your nights are spent laughing, days spent cramming for tests, afternoons taken up with coffee and stories, and after some time, you’ve made another family. A different kind of family, but a family none-the-less.

Not to worry, your mom still gives the best hugs and your dad still gives the best advice, but the type of family that you’ve become a part of in college is a very special kind. They are with you at all hours of the day, every day of the week, and they are the first one’s you’ll tell when something big happens. They’ll push you and challenge you in new ways, and they’ll show you different perspectives and ideas you would not have noticed before. I don’t know about you, but I go each day with these people wishing I could record it all just so I could watch it later. Every moment is a new memory with those you’ve come to love, and as the memories add up, you find another home.

So, all of this leads to a simple idea: home is people, not a place. It’s not my hometown, but the people in it that I hold so dearly. And the same feeling I get pulling into my driveway now exists somewhere else too. It’s in the stands at football games, holding hands and our breaths, praying for a win. It’s on the street of my freshman year dorm, where we stayed up laughing and talking about nothing every night. It’s in our favorite coffee shops, where we go every Sunday afternoon with the idea of studying, but end up telling stories and making memories instead.

Any family is beautiful, and wonderful, and special, and irreplaceable. So here’s to having more than one person or place to call home, I’m incredibly grateful for each and every one of you.