Day Ten: A Place To Call Home

I have never known another house, or another bedroom. I have lived in the same house, on the same street, in the same suburb, in the same city all my life. My parents bought this house before I was born and we have lived here ever since. i consider myself lucky to have a roof over my head.

Yes, there have been times when I sulked because one of my parents wouldn't let me paint my bedroom Barbie Pink, Bright Purple, Shocking Lime, Black or whatever other colour my teenage self would have desired. Looking back I'm quite pleased that my room isn't any of those colours. Too much of the first three tend to give anyone a headache or at least induce the need to wear sunglasses indoors. And black, well its so dark... I can achieve that by just not pulling the blind up during the day.

I have been fortunate enough to have had a roof over my head and food on the table every night. I have come from a stable house. I know of people who haven't been that lucky.

It is not just having a stable house that I'm lucky to have. I was fortunate to be born in a nice city. We have public transport (Even if it is overpriced and ever slightly unreliable), we have power, there are nice green open spaces only a short walk away, we can see the sea (even swim in it if it isn't too cold), there is a university (well 2 actually) located here, so I didn't even need to leave the city to continue my education. So many places don't have all these things.

I live in a sable country. There is no mob waiting with sharpened pitchforks rioting in the street (I admit that this is a slightly old fashioned view). The military mostly stays out of the lives of civilians. The Government could certainly be doing a worse job. If the worst they could do is put interest back on student loans then compared to other places in the world we could be much much worse off. Our government apparently is one of the least corrupt in the world.

I live in a country where you can be open about your faith and not get jailed for being Chrisitain. Our children recieve an education, and health care is free. People can be open about their sexuality and support is out there for those who need it. Our country has money to provide services and share around resources.

Our city isn't littered with volcanoes, or bush fires, nuclear waste, or anything like that. I guess I'm lucky that when i come home after a long day of study at university, I have a place to call home.

<3 S