WOW...5 years ago we spent our last Christmas in MN. It was a sad experience since we had spent our whole lives in MN. We had our usual celebrations at both sides of the family on Christmas Eve and then our own family celebration on Christmas day at our home. Then the sad reality set in on 12/26/2001...the moving truck showed up and starting packing up our things.
Was I happy...not AT ALL. My whole life was in MN...one sister lived a mile east of me and the other lived 1 mile west of me. We all quilted. We used to shop together and have a great time. When one had an issue with a quilt there was a meeting of the sisters!!! If my dad was sick or my in laws were sick we could be there in an hour.
But a job is important to survival. My DH had lost his job because his company had been sold. He tried SUPER hard to find a job in MN but it just wasn't there. It was obvious that we were destined to leave MN. His company that was sold had a branch in Kansas City, MO and they offered him a job. He took it...we aren't big gamblers and believe in security.
We had (still have) 4 kids. One was a senior in HS, one was a jr in HS, a freshman in HS and a 7th grader. We made an agonizing decision to leave the oldest 2 in MN with my sister to finish HS. The other 2 came with us.
We ended up moving into our house in Overland Park, KS on 12/29/01. New Year's was very sad but my DH and I tried to make it a celebration for our 2 boys who moved with us. Every weekend we tried to find something to do. It took awhile but our boys finally adjusted.
For me...it took over 4 years to find my niche. I FINALLY have girlfriends and can say I "think" I am happy here.
Do I miss MN? ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Do I miss my family? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!! Do I like staying in a hotel on Christmas Eve night in MN? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!! Do I like driving back to KS on Christmas Day to have our own Christmas? YES AND NO!!!
I am very thankful for the fact that my dh has an amazing job that he loves and that provides very well for our family. I am thankful for my family being together (we are all in the KS area). I do however miss MN a LOT and my family.
The experience was difficult...bad situation, bad time of year, bad stuff all around. But I survived!!!! My kids survived! We are stronger people because of it!!!
Merry Christmas everyone!!
Hugs
Laurie
Friday, December 22, 2006
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3 comments:
Here's to settling in... everything does take time, especially big moves. Your 2 older kids were lucky that they were able to finish HS with their own classes as that is such a hard age to move (I went to 4 highschools in 4 years!).
Cheers!
Evelyn
WOW - to think I got to go to 3 high schools.... For you oldest two, I am glad that you were able to make that agonizing decision. Almost 20 years later, I am still working through those issues...
Well, as I unpack my things this week in Minneapolis, I can relate to your post. Although we've moved frequently this was the first one that we had to move to a place NOT of our choosing. But as Keith's job was moving here and he wanted to continue working for this company we decided to make the move. There are days I'm excited and days I'm depressed about it. I don't make friends easily and with the amount of travel Keith does I'll be on my own a significant amount of the time. I'll feel better once I'm back to quilting.
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