Final answer:
The amount of time since the family left its home and what happened in the interim is context-dependent, ranging from months to decades, involving significant life changes such as gaining freedom or facing challenges of displacement.
Step-by-step explanation:
The timeline and experiences since a family left its home can vary based on different historical contexts provided in the excerpts. It could range from a few months to several decades, and the events in the interim have been momentous and transformative for those involved. For example, in the context of the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves found freedom but also faced the overwhelming responsibility of independence. In another context, a family may have only had a week to evacuate their home due to internment, carrying with them only their most essential possessions. Additionally, explorers lost in the Arctic relied on a chronometer for navigation, demonstrating the crucial role of timekeeping in survival during explorations.