Chapter 1: The Decision
Have you ever had a gut feeling that you just knew was right? No matter how painful, stressful or unsure you were…you just knew it was right? This happened for us about 4 years ago. We were living in Chicago at the time and absolutely loving it, however something greater was pulling at us. We had been talking about moving out of the city for a long time, but we could never pull the trigger since we loved the city so much. Greater than that, we loved our friends, family and community that we had grown to know over the 12 years of living there. We LOVED Chicago.
However, at this time 4 years ago we knew that something had to change. Like most people in the economic downturn, life began to drastically change. Kids were getting older, my job wasn’t as lucrative, nor as fun. It’s pretty stressful when you are a government bond trader and the Federal Reserve has interest rates at zero. It’s almost like being a farmer in the middle of a 5 year drought. We were spent…emotionally, financially and just overall too “on edge”. This wasn’t us. We needed a simpler life.
It was around this time—maybe a little before, I’m not sure since my dates are always fuzzy in my head—that I decided to take the family camping. I rented an rv in the city with the plan of heading to Grand Haven, MI to stay at Yogi Bear Campground. I’m not sure if anyone has ever driven a 20+ foot rv through Chicago traffic, but let’s just say it was not my finest moment in keeping my language clean. After we pulled in the campground well after 11pm in our 1-800-GO-RVING camper and trying to back into our campsite (while never have done this before), the locals came from their campfires with Budweisers in hand and offered to help. Awesome.
The next day, we were awoken by the beautiful sounds of young Jake playing the car horn in the front seat. At 6am. Hours later, Tori had set the smoke alarm off cooking bacon for me in the camper. To say the least, this trip started off a disaster. That was until we went to Meijer to restock food supplies…and beer/wine. I dropped Tori off at the door and parked way out in the lot, just so I didn’t piss any more locals off. A half hour later, Tori came out smiling as happy as I’ve seen her. She shut the rv door and says “We’re moving here. The people here are so friendly”. I laughed. Really. “We’re moving to Grand Haven because of a nice Meijer?” We had a great time on that camping trip though, we really did. Even though we swore we would never do it again, we have proceeded to go camping numerous times since.
Anyway, it was 5 years ago on our family Spring Break vacation down in Seaside, Florida when the lightbulb went off. After spending the week in the ocean, riding bikes on the seaside and just living the beach town life…we both knew we had to be living near the water. We needed to move.
We discussed every possible location you could think of: St. John in the Virgin Islands, Mexico, California, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Tahiti. You name it, we researched it.
While it’s great to dream big, sometimes it’s also smart to be practical. Especially when you have your kids future lives involved. So, we became practical. We narrowed down our choices to Ann Arbor, MI (where we met, got engaged and married---and seemed to have the perfect ending with moving there) and yes, Grand Haven, MI. This was all thanks to seeing the documentary “Unsalted” and the urge to learn surfing on the Great Lakes. Again, my fire was stoked…I needed to be on the water. Practical? Nah.
It wasn’t until we signed the contract on our Chicago house to sell it when it all became real. I’ll never, ever forget seeing that sign being dug in the front yard that said “For Sale”. My heart sunk. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to puke. I almost yelled out the front door to take it out. I LOVED Chicago, but I knew it was the right decision. So, there stood the “For Sale” sign.
It was 8 days later, when we were actually back in Ann Arbor for a football alumni event and house shopping, when I got the call: “We have a serious offer on your house”. Woah. In a crappy housing market, this wasn’t expected. I thought we had time to think about everything. We didn’t. We had looked in Grand Haven the week before, but that was more of wishful thinking. A dream. But we had looked in Ann Arbor for years. And years. And years. Pretty much since Hailey was born (10 years ago!). Something wasn’t right. Don’t get me wrong…I love Ann Arbor. But sometimes you just know.
It wasn’t until our last showing in Ann Arbor when it hit. We had just finished seeing a house, in a nice neighborhood, close to the stadium. Something wasn’t right. We needed to be on the water.
We finished the home tour and our realtor and I got to talking when she asked: ”Well, where else are you looking?” I told her: “Only Ann Arbor and Grand Haven on the west side.” Her response is something I’ll never forget either: “If I were you, I’d move to Grand Haven”. If your realtor in Ann Arbor tells you that you should live in Grand Haven, it’s a done deal. While I might have laughed that day when Tori came in the rv…she was right.
So, as you may conclude…we bought a house in the Grand Haven area. While my legit career is mobile…did either of us move for a real job? Nah. Did we have any family here? No. Did we have any friends here? Nope. If you talk about doing something on gut feeling, this was it. There was no guarantee. There was no safety net. And I loved it.
~Kunu
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