Home

Well, my Mom's finally out of the hospital. She spent a week in recovery and a week and a half in a rehabilitation hospital. Her knee replacement surgery went well. She had a lot of pain at different points but soldiered through the hard times brilliantly. She will be in therapy three times a week for the next few weeks. Ulitmately she is much better and glad to be home. Home.

There are several definitions for the word, Home, found in several online dictionaries. The first one describes home as a place "where you live at a particular time." Another definition describes home as a "family, a social unit living together." I like that. My favorite is the definition that describes home as "a place where something began and flourished." Home.

One of my favorite songs from a musical is "Home" written by Charlie Smalls, originally sung by Stephanie Mills on Broadway and phenomenally reinterpreted for the movie by Diana Ross in the role of Dorothy in The Wiz. The song hits "home" for me when she talks about having found direction and wanting to "convince time to slow up giving me enough time to grow up." In the end, she realizes that she's learned to look inside her heart to find a world full of love, like yours, like mine, like home. It's a beautiful song and she really does an amazing job singing it.

The word "home" has always meant a lot to me. There are so many songs written about home and what it means. Most everyone can relate to having a home, wanting a home or needing a home. But it's the sentiment behind the word that moves me. It has been written about in many musicals including In The Heights (When You're Home), Bombay Dreams (The Journey Home), Songs for a New World (Flying Home) and another of my favorites, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (I'm Going Home). It's also been sung about by Marc Broussard, Michael Buble, Daughtry, Foo Fighters, Sheryl Crow, Dixie Chicks and countless other artists.

In 2007, a fantastic new songwriter, Scott Alan, released a song titled "Home", sung by the brilliant Shoshana Bean, that gave the word and sentiment a new light. He writes, "Home is where the heart is meant to be, you'll always have a home inside of me. No matter where the journey leads you, if your path leads to some place new, you'll always have a home in this heart of mine."

I hope and pray that you have a home inside of someone's heart. Mushy, I know...but you can't deny it's what we all pray someday we'll find. What does "home" mean to you?

Scott Alan's music is available on iTunes and CDbaby. You can also learn more about Scott and his music at www.scottalan.net