The House That Built Me

Driving down the road the other day, this song came on the radio and pulled me right in.  By the end of the first chorus, I was crying.  I couldn't help but think about the house that I grew up in... the house that built me.  The corner house on South Painted Sky Street (how's that for a street name?) will always be a home to me.

When my parents moved our little family of 5 into that house in September 1982, it became our home.  I was five months old and spent almost exactly the next 20 years of my life within those walls.  With the exception of college and two years on my own, that house was my home.  I moved back in with Mom and Dad when I got engaged and planned the wedding, then moved in with my husband the day after we got married.

I cried when I pulled out of the driveway and went off to college.  I cried harder when I pulled out of the driveway to go spend my first night in my own apartment.  I cried when I pulled away to go move in with a boy--my husband.  And I cried the hardest when I pulled away for the last time because my parents had sold the house.  I came to learn later that my Mom had cried then too.  But someone else lives there now.  Someone else is making memories there now and is growing up in my room.

For most of my life, that house was HOME to me--to us!  It was where I had my first steps.  First day of school.  First school bus ride at the corner (cheesey pictures to prove it!)  First dog and cat.  First best friend.  First crush.  First bike.  First boyfriend.  First kiss.  First school dance (great pictures there, too!)  First heartache.  First car (and car accident).  First... everything.  That house holds more memories within its walls and boundaries than I can even count.  And so many of the lines from the song are true to my story and the home I grew up in.  Without a doubt, that house built me.

The House That Built Me

Miranda Lambert

I know they say you can't go home again

I just had to come back one last time

Ma'am, I know you don't know me from Adam

But these hand prints on the front steps are mine

Up those stairs in that little back bedroom

Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar

And I bet you didn't know under that live oak

My favorite dog is buried in the yard

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it

This brokenness inside me might start healing

Out here it's like I'm someone else

I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I could just come in, I swear I'll leave

Won't take nothing but a memory

From the house that built me

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years

From "Better Homes and Garden" magazine

Plans were drawn and concrete poured

And nail by nail and board by board

Daddy gave life to Mama's dream

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it

This brokenness inside me might start healing

Out here it's like I'm someone else

I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I could just come in, I swear I'll leave

Won't take nothing but a memory

From the house that built me

You leave home, you move on

And you do the best you can

I got lost in this whole world

And forgot who I am

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it

This brokenness inside me might start healing

Out here it's like I'm someone else

I thought that maybe I could find myself

If I could walk around, I swear I'll leave

Won't take nothing but a memory

From the house that built me