A House Is Not a Home was an experience sharing a piece of the author, Zan Gaudioso’s life. He mentioned the challenges that he faced being a teenager when he switched schools and grew up in a completely new environment. The narrator particularly discussed a real incident from his life that had a great impact on him as a teenager. He joined a new school and found it difficult to adjust to the new environment. He always felt lonely and isolated in his surroundings. He missed his teachers and friends from his old school and visited them often. His teachers told him to participate in extra-curricular activities in the new school to mingle with new people and make friends.

One Sunday afternoon, he was doing his high school homework while sitting at the dining-room table in his house. It was a cold day and his cat was lying on top of all his papers, purring occasionally, while his mother was stoking the fire in order to keep the house warm and cosy. Out of nowhere, he suddenly noticed smoke coming in through the seams of the ceiling. In no time, the entire room was filled in smoke and they rushed out of the house and saw the roof was engulfed in huge flames.

The narrator was panic-stricken and looked dazed as he ran to his neighbourhood to call the fire brigade. Meanwhile, his mother rushed into the burning house to collect all the important documents and some pictures of his deceased father. The author was terrified when he saw his mother risk her life in order to get her things from inside the house. In the meantime, the fire brigade arrived and saved his mother and wrapped blankets around them. Suddenly, the author recollected that his pet cat was missing and could not find her anywhere. He became upset and cried heartily on not finding his cat and assumed that his pet might have died in the fire.

The author’s house was completely in debris. It took the firefighters five hours to put out the fire completely. So, Zan went to his grandparents’ house with his mother. He went to school wearing the same clothes he wore the previous day and borrowed shoes and felt embarrassed. He was upset and felt insecure for his ill-condition. For a moment, he felt a huge loss and missed his old school, teachers, friends, old house and his pet cat.

That day after school hours, he visited his old house and was shocked to see the havoc done by the fire. He saw that whatever hadn’t burned was damaged by the water and chemicals used by the firefighters to put out the fire. He had lost everything except the documents, photo albums and some personal items that were saved by his mother. Most importantly, he was grieved at the loss of his pet cat as he could do nothing to save her.

Soon, the news of the fire spread to his new school and everyone was grief-stricken at his loss. They helped him by providing notebooks, clothes, school supplies, etc. The author’s heart was touched after seeing the concern of the people of his new school and was overcome by emotion. People who never spoke to him approached him and offered to help him. Meanwhile, he also made new friends and was happy and relieved that he was no more alone in his new school.

A month later, Zan visited his old house and was watching it being rebuilt along with his new friends. Suddenly, a woman approached him and brought a cat along with her. The author was overjoyed seeing his pet and was filled with gratitude for the lady for taking the trouble to find the rightful owner of the cat. He held the woman’s arms and cried in happiness. His friends also hugged him and his cat and jumped around merrily. The author recollected that it was indeed a great day of his life. He was grateful for everything – his life, his friends and the kindness of the lady who brought his cat to him. Thus, he felt that all the overwhelming feelings of loss and tragedy slowly seemed to diminish.

Conclusion of A House Is Not a Home

The chapter – A House Is Not a Home explains that one must be ready to face the challenges of life with courage and not get bogged down by the ups and downs of life. People encounter several challenges in life on a day-to-day basis, but they must stand firm and face all hurdles courageously.

* A house is not a home. Justify with reference to the story.