In order to understand us, you need some background. I’ll keep it to a short summary and not dwell on the intervening years except for those things that were pivotal influences to our decisions today.
We were both raised in the high desert of southern Idaho. We met just out of high school and were married a few years later. We both tried a number of career paths and struggled like any young couple, but we were fortunate to have a supportive family. After our son was born we started to really think about our future.
We knew we wanted something different, a way to escape that small town before it could sink its hooks into us permanently. The conservative values of Idaho coupled with the never ending expanse of sagebrush were stifling. Don’t get me wrong we have open minded family and friends we love dearly in our hometown and the desert can be beautiful in its way like any place.
I do miss parts of Idaho. I miss family dinners and gatherings, I miss a Friday night trip to the
bar with my friends, and I miss the new green of spring flowers that splash across the desert for only a brief few weeks before giving way to the brown of summer.
I especially miss summer storms with the peel of thunder and the lingering earthy smell of sagebrush as the dust settles from the rain.
Like many things that happen to us, it came quickly and unexpectedly. I was working as a Registered Nurse in an operating room and received a recruitment letter to a small hospital on the Oregon Coast. We had vacationed in the area before and jumped at the opportunity – quickly uprooting ourselves and making the move 600 miles away from all of our family and friends.
While no move is easy, we actually acclimated well to our new home. In retrospect, we had just traded one small town for another but the big change was in the liberal/moderate political mindset common to western Oregon.
That mindset coupled with the more relaxed Pacific Northwest lifestyle really appealed to us and we settled in quickly. At least Bridgett and I did – our son was another matter. He was very close to his grandparents and great-grandparents making the transition was much more difficult for him.
One thing about coastal Oregon – you can’t beat the scenery. Some of the luster has worn off over the years – but I wouldn’t trade the green for brown desert for any amount of money.
Life was good and we settled into our routines for many years seeing our son through school and growing older in a small never changing community.
We have been happy here. Exploring the sand dunes on ATV’s, Geocaching in the coastal rain forest, and traveling up and down the I-5 corridor from Seattle to San Fransisco.
Yet in the back of our minds, we began to get restless again. We started to notice how stagnant our life was and we toyed with the idea of moving. Once we even considered moving back to Idaho – but quickly nixed that idea after thinking on it. We approached it with a lack of sincerity stemming from our reluctance to change.
I’m not a fatalist, but I like to think that opportunity comes along not necessarily by chance. I think the universe provides us with what we need if we are so willing to recognize it. The change didn’t sneak up – it slammed open the door and smacked us with a hammer.