From the editor… Summer 2026

What makes a place home?

For some, it’s simply where they live. For others, it’s something much deeper — a collection of memories, relationships, and experiences that shape who they become.

This summer, my family is closing a chapter that has been decades in the making. With my parents beginning a new adventure in retirement, the house where I grew up will soon belong to someone else. It’s a milestone that has caused me to reflect not only on a building, but on the community that surrounded it.

Like many people, my relationship with the past is complicated. Some memories bring joy; others are much more difficult. But with time comes perspective, and I’ve found myself appreciating the role that places and people play in shaping our lives.

Although I haven’t lived in my small hometown for many years, the values I carry today were influenced by the experiences I had there and the people I met along the way. The roads, neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and landscapes that make up a community become part of our story, whether we realize it at the time or not.

As families move, retire, grow, and change, these moments of transition remind us that home is more than an address. It’s the place that helps shape us, the people who walk alongside us, and the memories we carry forward.

While life continues to lead us in new directions, some places never fully leave us.

No matter where the future takes us, there will always be places that feel like home.