Forever Home

As a “military kid”, I never really had a place to call home growing up. I was born in Germany, we moved to Illinois, then to Texas for a couple years, and finally settled in Georgia in 1993 all before I was in the third grade. Initially when we moved to Georgia, we lived with my grandmother to look after her as she was recovering from illness. Our family was still growing with the addition of my little sister so we eventually moved on to find our own place to call.. home.

I remember riding in the car going house shopping and looking at house after house getting my hopes up each time at what room would be mine in each one. This hunt went on until one day we saw, the winner. The house was brand new, neighborhood had kids my age in it, and it had this spacious living room that I still can picture my mom just in awe about the possibilities it would bring to have our own place to call … home.

To say I simply “grew up” in that house is an understatement. I was in third grade when we moved in that house. I went to middle school in that house. I went to high school in that house. I left for college from that house. I dropped out of college and moved back in .. that house. Everything about me in some form of fashion is because of what went on in that house. One of the most important things to know is that from 1993 until just last year, I spent EVERY Christmas morning in that house.

December 24, 2024 is the day everything changed. I had some of my players up at the school gym getting shots up and working out on their game. I left the school around 1:40ish and just as I was getting on the highway I got a phone call from my dad. I answered the phone and didn’t hear a reply. I said “yo what’s up pop” and I overhear him say to someone in the background “it started in the attic”. INSTANTLY, I knew what it was. My eyes went blank as I was driving just dreading the awful news he was about to share with me when he finally focused on the call. “Yo homes, you gotta come over here man, fire done broke out in the house man”. I don’t remember much of the conversation after that as I just focused on getting from Panola Rd to that house as soon as possible without crying, crashing, or getting caught speeding. Before hanging up, he assured me that everyone was out safely so I was relieved of that stress but the entire time I was just thinking to myself, “what the hell happened?”. As I approached the house, zig zagging through fire trucks and ambulance trucks to get as close as possible, I saw something I never saw before. Solar panels were on the roof of the house. I jumped out of the car and just stared at it. As I stood by my brother, sister, mother, and father, I was speechless. My face was full of tears. The home that we all grew to love and cherish is slowly disappearing right before our eyes. It was hard to believe this was happening. It was even more heartbreaking to know that in just about 9 hours, it would be Christmas Day. That night, my family came to my house and we did our best to prepare for what was to come. We had to prepare not only for Christmas, but for all of our new lives without that place to call…. home.

Fast forward to Christmas 2025… As I went looking for gifts for my family this year, I came across this page on Etsy for this small business that creates pictures of houses for new homeowners as a gift. Perfect. With their help, I was able to recreate those memories, revive the good vibes, and ultimately heal that pain of never seeing our beautiful house the way we all knew and loved it. Today, my parents received that gift in their new home. Today we were all able to celebrate our forever… home.

We never know what holidays bring for others around us. For some, it’s a celebration, for others it brings back memories of loved ones and things that are no longer with us. I pray that everyone finds peace and at least an ounce of happiness during this time. For me, today was a day for closure. A day to remember the life and times we were blessed to have in that house and begin new traditions. But deep down in my heart, that place will forever be …. home.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays

N.H. ✊🏽