THE VALUE OF A HOME

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 30th, 2012

Yesterday I had to move out the entire contents of my apartment while renvation work is performed to repair some damage sustained when a neighbor’s landscaper disconnected her irrigation water supply sloppily. I will be moving into a hotel next week for about 3 weeks while the repairs are done. Not the end of the world.

But last night after dinner, I walked home and was reminded yet again how meaningful it is to have a home. Yes, I could consider myself homeless right now, although thats a stretch, but last night walking the rather chilly streets of New York I imagined what it must be like for those who are truly homeless. In my world I always joke about my charitable career taking care of  the “Homeless Millionaires”…..but I simply cannot imagine how awful it must be to be truly homeless. And last night made me think more closely about the subject.

Even for those with wealth, not being able to go to a place that is an environment that comforts and cocoons you after a long stressful day is difficult. There are times during the day when I think about my home and all its creature comforts, and it calms me knowing I have a place to go to at the end of the day.

So I want to say just how grateful I am that in a few weeks I will once again be able to head home to a place that provides shelter, displays things, furniture, art, etc that provide endless satisfaction, be able to sit down at my piano and ramble on, plonk on the couch and watch those lovely Staten Island ladies on TV, and fall asleep in a super-comfortable bed staring out at the setting sun. For the first time in a very long time, I truly believe that my helping people find and create really wonderful homes is a very important role I play in of the big picture of the lives of other human beings.