Comparison essay

A few miles down the road from our large, two story colonial with three car garage is another house. It is a small, beat up single wide trailer, no garage, with a muddy driveway. At first glance, these two houses seem totally unlike each other, but they are more alike than you think.

Inside each house, there are bedrooms for children and parents, a bathroom, kitchen and living room. When it rains or snows, the families in each house are kept warm and dry. In the evenings, these same families are equally comfortable, snuggling up on their couches in front of their respective televisions, after having a nice homecooked dinner made in their kitchens.

Outside these dwellings is five acres of woods. The families in each house are both able to enjoy walks through the woods and glimpses of deer and other wildlife in their backyards. In the fall, both backyards are covered with leaves to rake up and play in. In the winter, both yards are covered in snow to plow up and sled down. In the spring, both houses have equal amounts of muddy footprints tracked inside.

In the summer at each house you will find happy families playing baseball, basketball, and soccer together. On Saturdays both dooryards are full of friends invited to a barbeque or bonfire. At both places you will hear the sounds of laughter and squeals from the children.

Despite the difference in size and house payments, these two houses are very similar. They are both homes to happy families. What is most important is the people and goings on inside, not the type and appearance of the dwelling. If more people understood this, less would go into debt buying bigger and better houses. They would instead get back to the basics of making their house a home.