Friday, July 20, 2007

What a Long Strange Year it's Been

View from the trail at Multnomah Falls in OR
Just one short year ago, our life was about to take a drastic turn, hopefully for the better. My dear husband was tiring of his present job and began looking for other employment by contacting a friend who was working at a small firm in the Pacific Northwest. Within a few weeks of this first phone call, an interview was set up and C and I were flying there to check out the area and see if we really wanted to move there. Despite C's caution about the job itself, we fell in love with the area. The company wanted C, and soon. Like by October. We left with a lot to think about. C persuaded his friend to hold them off until the timing was better for him to leave the present job. The plan was to move in the spring. In February, we took the girls there to show them the area and to look for land on which to build a house. The girls fell in love with the area and we were all excited about the big change coming up. We found a piece of land and even went as far as entering negotiations to purchase it. Just as we were about to accept the counter offer, C put the brakes on the whole deal, wishing to be more cautious with our finances and not stretch ourselves too thinly. We could look for land to buy when we got there.

It was not meant to be. Soon after this, C made the decision to turn down the job and our plans were sent back to square one. By this time I had found people to replace me as leader of the Life Learners, starting preparing myself emotionally and logistically for the move, and had done a ton of research about the new area. To say that the change of plans was a shock is putting it lightly. I truely mourned the loss of the plan for a good month or more. On the surface, I appeared to be rolling with the punches, but inside I was sad. I resolved to stop trying to plan the future. When C told me it was time to move and where we had to go, I would do it. I would make where ever we went Home. I have had a lot of practice doing that and I knew I could do it again. We accepted that another summer here in the desert was inevitable, so I found a new pool for our backyard to help us survive the heat. I did not step down as leader of the LVLL, but enjoyed all the new help I now had to run things. I tried really hard to forget that I had declared myself DONE with this place and strived to see the good in living here.

And now? Well, we have a new plan. This time it does not revolve around the job, as it has for pretty much my whole life. It revolves around dreams and plans and goals for the whole family and our whole life. I get to go Home. It will take us a few years and a detour through the DC area, but eventually we will find land and build our forever home on it near my hometown. My children will grow up close to the land and close to family. They say you can never go home again, and for the last 15 or so years I have lived my life believing that, perhaps to make myself feel better. But now I know it IS possible. Life is GOOD.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the sound of your new plan. And I really like that it revolves around dreams and goals and not jobs. Seems that would feel very "right"...at least to me, too.

Anonymous said...

Yay--You're coming home! Can't wait...

Annette said...

Gee do I understand dealing with plans that don't go through! Enjoy your summer. Your new plan sounds fulfilling on many levels - good for you. Love, A xx

Shawna said...

It's funny how life unfolds when we are still enough to let it happen. It sounds like a great plan.

Anonymous said...

It's been a long time since we've seen you, but if you let the universe guide you, you'll end up exactly where you need to be! We spent the last 2 years looking and waiting, and finally found our perfect house in Vermont, where we'll be moving in just a few months. Goodbye D.C.! I am so longing to live in nature and have land that my daughter can roam.

I know how disappointing it can be when things don't work out, and we've been through at least one major disappointment in our search for a new home, but when the right house came along, we knew that we'd finally truly found HOME.

Miranda said...

Hey, Marie! Long time is right! Too bad you all won't still be in DC when we get there, but it is good you found your dream home. Good luck with the move!

~Crystal~ said...

OHHHHH, it sounds wonderful. Congrats!