Home at LastSidetracked Sisters

My son Matt and I pulled away from the house we had called home for the past fifteen years. It was the only home Matt remembered and a home that I loved. We had come back over spring break to finish emptying out the house and to complete our move to Colorado.

We turned left off Scott Street. I was driving our Bravada and pulling a U-Haul trailer filled with treasures that hadn’t fit in the moving van. We passed the Kwik Trip on Center Street and I remember thinking to myself, “What am I doing?” This was my home. My family was here and we were traveling to the unknown.

My husband Michael had been offered a good job working for a friend in Colorado. The year was 2006 and it had a sense of adventure about it. I felt it was Michael’s turn to follow a dream and take this opportunity.

Matt seemed happy to move. Mom had passed away in the fall of 2004 and I think we all felt the need to start a new chapter. It was the first time since Michael and I had married in 1986, that I didn’t listen to and follow my intuition.

Fast forward eight plus years. Circumstances in Colorado had not worked out as we had hoped. Michael’s work involved the housing market which crashed big time in 2008.

Matt graduated in 2006 and had many positive memories. One memory was skating with his high school hockey team to win the Colorado State Championship. Matt had sacrificed his relationship with his high school girlfriend. Sometimes I still feel sad about this decision.

I took a job in banking which had a few upsides and many downsides. I enjoyed the two branches I managed but had a Market Manager that I had no respect for. He used our attractive, female managers as his play things. His only goal for me was to be rid of me. It was not a positive situation. After eight and a half years, I had enough.

Michael had a stroke in 2011 and scared Matt and I to death. He recovered without complications, but Matt asked me what I would have done if he hadn’t made it. By this time, Matt had graduated from UCCS in Colorado Springs and had started his new career in New Jersey. The thought of being in Colorado by myself without my family was grim at best. Michael and I began looking for ways to return to Wisconsin.

As so often happens, when we put our desire out there, things began to work out. Michael received an offer to work in Milwaukee in the data center business. This position utilized many of his skills in finance and technology. It wasn’t perfect but it was a vehicle to bring us home.

We decided we wanted to relocate in my home town of Beaver Dam, WI. I accepted a position working for Chase Bank as a Personal Banker. The Bank was located five minutes from our home and filled the need. Like Michael’s job, it wasn’t perfect and it made our relocation possible.

My sister, Sandy was a Godsend. We were able to stay with her and her husband, Art until we found housing. That was no easy task. We offered on one house which fell through. Sandy drove me around the same neighborhood and we found a house that was for sale that fit our needs and the owners offered to work with us to smooth out the details.

My dream was coming true and our needs were falling into place. I learned several lessons during this important experience in our lives.

My home is in Wisconsin. This is where I was meant to be and where I want to stay.
When you make a mistake, don’t give up. Decide what you want and the details will work themselves out. I believe that divine intervention plays a role in this area.
Family is everything to me. This includes my sister and Brother-in-law, my two nieces and their families and of course my husband and our son.
Matt’s wisdom is beyond his years. He was so right to suggest that we locate near out family.

In 2023, my husband, Michael passed away in hospice care in our home. I was so blessed to have our son close enough to be with me, our family and their love surrounding me and my friends, neighbors and co-workers supporting and helping me through.

I once again am listening to my intuition and following my heart. Lessons learned are wisdom gained and happiness secured. I am home at last.