This past year has been extremely tumultuous and erratic, exciting and surprising. As we approach the holiday season, I find myself looking back over the last several months and how the Gilberts have ended up where we are now. Buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride...
Just over a year ago, Jason and I sat in our living room, feeling totally defeated by our financial struggles. We were unable to meet all of our financial obligations and were teetering on a breaking point. The next several months took us through a whirlwind of foreclosure talks with our mortgage lender, threatening phone calls, tears, fights, and a lot of stress. However, in the end, we decided to walk away. To walk away from the house we had started our family in. To walk away from the yard and the man-room and the garage and the newly renovated bathrooms. But also to walk away from the stress and the turmoil. It was not a decision we came to lightly, and not one I recommend unless you are very certain about it.
As it happened, it was the right choice for us. Through an interesting twist, Jason was offered a promotion to maintenance supervisor at a different apartment complex. The job also offered us a free apartment. No deposit, no rent, just move in. Really? A promotion, a raise, AND I get to live here for free? Sold! Within weeks of moving out of our house and into the apartment complex, we also met a couple who were anxious to have a house of their own instead of renting an apartment. Hey, hey, what do you know, we happen to have such a house! They moved in and began renting our house immediately, and have expressed very serious interest in buying the property at the end of their lease. Our house is no longer a concern for us. Now, getting the mortgage straightened out, that's another story....oh how I loathe thee, Bank of America...
We lived in the apartment for a few short months. However it quickly became apparent this was not where we were meant to be. Free rent was great. But it came with a lot of strings. Jason quickly grew to hate his job, realizing more than ever that the company cared more for it's bottom line than for it's employees (or it's residents). I know I make jokes about my husband, but he has a very compassionate heart for people, and the daily grind of having to put peoples needs last began to wear on him. His stress level at work lead to a lot of stress and tension between the two of us. It was a very difficult time, and not one either of us cares to remember.
We realized we needed to make a change, free rent be damned. Free rent wasn't worth what was happening to Jason or what was happening to us. The cost of "free" had gotten to be too high. During our time together, we had spent many vacations and weekends in Wilmington and had fallen in love with the area. We had decided years ago that we eventually wanted to live in the area. Once we knew that it would be best for Jason to look for a new job, the thought occurred to us...why not start looking where we wanted to end up?
On a whim one Thursday night, he submitted an online application for a maintenance technician at an apartment complex in Wilmington. Friday morning he got a phone call...how soon could he come in for an interview? Wait, what? Really?! The next week of our lives will be remembered (at least by me) as one of the strangest chain of events to take place. He went to Wilmington on Tuesday, had a great interview and would have been offered the job on the spot but things came to a standstill when he mentioned he would need a month to relocate. Sorry, they needed someone right away but they really wished there was something they could do. They hated to lose him. On Wednesday, he came home and returned to work...only to be let go for missing work the previous day. Well then. On Thursday, Sean (the man he interviewed with) called him to see if there was anything they could do to get him down to Wilmington faster. Well, now that you mention it...
A similar story took place with my employment. I happened to remember hearing the name of a medical supply company in Wilmington some time ago. (When I say I happened to remember, I mean I probably heard it once and for "some reason" the name never escaped me.) I looked up their information online and called to see if they needed a billing specialist. Yes, as a matter of fact they were in desperate need! I had an interview scheduled within a week and was offered a job for matching pay on the spot. I now know why I couldn't forget their name.
In the 4 months since our move, we have settled into our new surroundings. Jason is much happier at his new job, I am very pleased with the direction things are going at my job, and Nicholas - who was never in full-time daycare before - loves his new school and is learning so much so fast that I simply can't keep up. We are both finding things to involve ourselves in so that we have our "own" thing, and discovering more about a town we already loved is proving to be really fun. Things are definitely challenging, and I have suffered through my fair share of homesickness. Learning to live away from everything we've ever known is harder than I thought it would be. Sure, we could have more money. (BTW - if you do not fall into the category of people who could use more money, please see me after class.) Sure, we have bad days like everyone else. But when I think back over the last year of our lives and how quickly things have changed for us, I have no doubt in my mind that this is where we are supposed to be. I don't know what our purpose here is, but for now we are happy to just see where the road takes us. Our life is pretty great, and after having survived the last year and ending up where we have, I think I'll just let things be great for awhile.
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