What Makes a Home?

I’m thinking about this as my husband and me are in the process of selling our home.  We’ve lived here for five years and have enjoyed the house and the neighborhood for the most part.  The house itself is nothing special, but it’s on a very large, wooded lot very convenient to the city and very quiet.  It does have some sentimental value since we were married and had our daughter during the time we spent in the house.

Here’s my question, though.  What makes a home a home?  Is it the fact it’s a good house in a nice location or the memories and experiences had while inhabiting it?  Could you be just as happy living in a two bedroom apartment in the city?  I worry about that with my daughter.  Will she miss the yard?  Will she miss having a bedroom and a playroom?  For that matter, will my husband and me kill each other being so close and not being able to go to separate corners?

I’ve experienced parental guilt regarding our decision but I’ve decided it doesn’t really matter where you live or raise your child, as long as it’s a loving, stable home and you have all the basic necessities to survive (which includes cable TV for me).  Material things are just that…things.  You can’t take them with you so who cares, right?  I would rather have less stress, less financial burden and be free to enjoy life, travel and worry less about stuff.