That is the question. Jon will finish his Residency this Spring and we are in the middle of trying to decide where we go from here.
Our *orginal* plan was to finish Jon's schooling here and move out West somewhere like Idaho, Washington or Colorado. School took waaaaaay longer than anyone thought and in the meantime we have made a life for our family here. We have been in Mn for 14 years now. I have had a contract job for ten of those years. Rachel has spent her entire childhood here and Rhi is right in the middle of her schooling. *Sigh* We have so many roots here and of course the easiest thing is to just stay. Jon has a few offers from here already and they are pretty decent. It is also financially smarter to stay as I have a job here and the pay is better than anywhere else I might go. If we stayed we could easily pay off all of our debt and start really putting away for retirement.Still, where does one belong? My personal dream has always been to live in Idaho, the land of my birth. I have been fortunate enough to marry a man who has been there and feels the same. The reality is that while I love the land, there not many people that I know to tie me there. There are plenty of dead people such as my mother and grandparents, but there are only a few family members there and out of those only a few I really even want to see. I have had enough of my family to last me awhile. There are a few friends that live up there that I wouldn't mind seeing. So the question is, am I willing to give up my people connections and financial security for a dream. Dreams, after all, are not always what we would have them be. I tend to make only a few very close friends and I try to keep those friends as long as time and the relationship allows. I hate trying to start over and that really weighs in in my decision. I had a dream two nights ago that I was was walking along in Minnesota and witnessing a beautiful sunset. I was crying because it was so incredible and yet I knew that the place I came from was just as magical. I continued to cry and walk saying to myself, "where do I belong". I used to think I knew and now I am not so sure. Perhaps there is a way to have both. Maybe we could continue to live here and get a summer home in Idaho? When Rhi finishes school, we might move or wait for retirement depending on how hard or easy it is for Jon to switch jobs at that point. Anyway, just in case, Jon has applied to some places in Coeur d' Alene and I have looked at their public schools. They have a Charter School the looks perfect for Rhi but there is a waiting list. Jon also has an offer from Omak Washington which is strangly very close to where my old friend from Az, Jessica, lives. It looks like a very "white" area and is several hours from CDA. Still, they have offered to fly both Jon and myself out to see it. I think at the very least we will want a few other offers to compare to the ones we already have. Wow. Big crossroads. Really big. Posted by Michelle at August 9, 2008 03:58 PM