For me, it’s the smell of jasmine outside my window. The sound of our family dog running across the hardwood floors. The annual photo taken in front of the Christmas tree. The hydrangeas planted in the garden for my brother’s wedding. Watching baseball in the living room. Picking herbs from the vegetable garden. My dad grilling on the back deck. The birthdays, graduations, baby showers and Sunday dinners.

I had the fortunate experience of growing up in the same home for most of my life. When I think of “home” it’s a very specific image: a modest house, impeccably decorated with a white fence and arbor, flowers blooming all around, and my family contained within.

A few years ago my parents began the process of retiring, and in doing so, rented out our family home to move to a new locale. My parent’s house has always been the gathering place for family events large and small. So even though I haven’t lived there in almost a decade, I struggled with the idea of spending birthdays, holidays and “anydays” somewhere else.

And then what I already knew became obvious. My idea of home is physically located at 191 Elm Avenue. But it’s so much more than that. My home is me. It’s who I am. And it follows me wherever I go, regardless of where I lay my head to rest at night.

And that’s the message of Coldwell Banker’s latest ad, Your Home.

“Your home is the only place in the world where you know one perfectly wonderful thing for certain…you’re home.”

What makes your home, home?