I was born and raised in Michigan. I graduated high school there. I worked my summers there during college. I met my husband there, and we were married there. Then, a week after the wedding, the moving trucks came. They took us to Philadelphia. Later trucks moved us to Los Angeles, California's central valley, and then to here... north of New Orleans.
Later this summer, a truck will move us back to Michigan.
I won't technically be moving "home," although my husband will come darn near close. In high school he worked two jobs in our new town, a small island community southeast of Detroit.
It's a twist in our narrative I didn't see coming. Nearly 6 years ago, when we ended up moving here instead, it was contemplated... being closer to family as The May Queen grew up had its appeal.
We've made a home here in a way we haven't anywhere else. We love New Orleans, and Louisiana. We've stuck through some pretty rough times here.
The reasons are never simple, but the simplest reason for our move back is the health of my in-laws. Both of my husband's parents have had strokes in the last 6 months. My sister in law closed up her home in Massachusetts to move in with them and help care for them (she started a blog about her journey, you can travel Through the Looking Glass and give her encouraging words if you feel so inclined). We feel a need to be closer to help with the care and the decisions. To give the May Queen more time with her grandparents.
We will also be closer to my family... the May Queen will be about an hour from her cousins, and another half an hour will bring her to my parent's home. I still have dear friends there from high school and my days at camp, and although they won't be next door neighbors, I am looking forward to reconnecting with them more than once a year.
Autumn. I can honestly say I am looking forward to fall.
There are good things about this move. But there are big questions, too. What will the new town be like, and will I fit in there? How will I break into yet another theatre community, one that appears quite smaller than the one here. Can I handle snow again?
I'm trying to be excited about the new possibilities. But honestly? I'm tired. And a bit scared. And quite a bit sad.
Yes is not always an easy word to say.
____________
When I was a child there was a marketing campaign with the jingle "Say Yes to Michigan! Say yes, yes, yes, say Yes!"
I couldn't find that song, but this was obviously part of the same campaign.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
Good for you. I hope you and your family will flourish there. I've experienced something similar, moving back east where we're seeing family every month instead of every year, reconnecting with childhood friends, etc., and it has been an amazing blessing that I hadn't seen coming. I hope you will truly love it there. I know it's not easy.
Clearly you have given this much thought and I think you are doing the right thing. You will never regret having that time with family. Many people say "I wish I could have spent more time with my family" but not too many say "I wish I hadn't spent all that time with my family".
Todd and I love where we live but if it weren't for our family being here we probably would be living somewhere else. But our family is just too important to us, and they need us now, so this is where home is.
When you make selfless decisions God has a way of blessing you 10 fold. I am so excited to see and hear all the wonderful blessings that come out of this for you.
Still, knowing you are making the right decision does not make it any easier to say goodbye to something and some place you love so much. It is hard. And it is a grieving process. Be gentle on yourself. :)
Prayers for you and your family!
I was really touched by this post, and so happy you're writing about your journey, for I have to confess, selfish reasons.
We are in a similar situation, living 10 hours away from parents that are aging with an ache to have our kids grow up closer to their grandparents. We don't love our town, but we feel trapped by our jobs - my husband and I are fairly specialized in what we do and whenever we talk about moving closer we get paralyzed by the details of getting new jobs and selling our house and making our way in a new city. I know exactly how you feel, the difference is that we haven't done anything about it yet.
It heartens me to hear that it can be done, that it isn't easy by any stretch, but that it can be done.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and good luck!
This one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGEdVOOsuS4
Don't go thinking, I thought I would EVER move back!
;)
all my love.
Of course now, it's PURE MICHIGAN, and I suppose the water is a bit cleaner then . . .
Ahh well, enough said of that.
Alice... that's the same one I linked to! ;)
and yes, the beaches are probably a little nicer these days. so at least there's that.
Just remember: great lakes, great times! You will be OK. My husband and I had several opportunities to move to places a lot more glamorous than northeast Ohio, but we chose to stay here so we could raise our children close to family. I only ever regret that decision January through April :)
change is so hard . . . but it's nice you'll be near family. Thanks for posting this. I'm hoping you get lots of opportunities for acting. We live in a small town (about 10,000). We have a community theater that manages to put on a couple of plays a year . . .
So bittersweet...
I hope everything works out for the best.
Welcome back... ;)
I hope Michigan is good to you. I'm sure the Maypole family will be good for Michigan!
Oh, a huge, scary change. I know a lot about those. But sometimes you just need to jump in. Congrats!
Good luck. Hope it works out.
Good luck with the move! That is a big change. I'm sure you will turn the town upside down once you set foot on stage there. :) And the good thing about blogs is...they are portable.
I hope it exceeds all of your expectations!
Post a Comment