My dad has taught me many lessons. In my opinion the most important was one about priorities.
When I was little we drove by the trailer park in our brown station wagon with the wood on the sides & I saw somebody had a new Trans Am in their driveway, (told you I was young).
“Dad, why don’t we have a nice car like that.”
“You have to pick which things you want. Do you want our nice hose with a pool or that car?”
I shut up, finished the conversation in my head and quietly chose the pool. No shocker there. I was under the driving age and was 1/2 fish growing up. I loved the water more than anything.
When I moved to California many years later we covered this lesson again on a phone call home.
“Rent is so expensive here in the bay area.” At which point I regaled him with shocking stories of just how expensive, expensive was.
“Well, you can have cheap rent you just have to live in some place more like Indiana.”
I laughed and chose California. I never forgot the lesson after that.
Priorities are a funny thing though. They have a sneaky way of changing on you. With a driver’s license that pool/car question might not have been as easy to answer. Well actually it would. I would still take the house and the pool. Which is exactly why we are moving to Indiana.
We have decided it is time for us to leave California and head to the land of affordable living.
When I left I swore up and down, left and right and every which way in between that I would never go back. So when I called and told my parents and they seemed rather surprised I was only slightly shocked.
We are really excited about the move and all the fun things that will come with it. This move is going to allow us so much more freedom. I will hopefully be able to work fewer hours. Which means more time with the amazing man in my life and time to figure out starting my own business. I don’t know what that looks like yet so stay tuned.
We are most looking forward to finally owning our own home and hopefully starting a family.
This could be my first Christmas with my parents in a decade. This will also be my first winter in over a decade. Please let it be nicer than last year. 16 years on the west coast has made me a bit of a weather wimp!
Have you left your childhood home? Will you ever go back?
