Mary Elen and Warren baby-sit Jackson and Chandler every Friday. The boys come to their home, to the place where seven generations of family photos grace the mantelpiece.

In the back of her mind, Mary Elen may have been planning to come home all along. When she and her husband did come back to her childhood home, Mary Elen found clothes from her high school days still in her dresser drawers.

She was away for many years of her married life, but now she says, "I've always wanted to live here. I've always loved this house." She owns a rubber stamp that reads, "There's a place called home where my heart can rest . . ." Mary Elen Shenk says this house — the entire house, not just the bear-proof closet — is her safe place.

---

E-mail: susan@desnews.com