I had nothing today to write about. Thanksgiving was exhausting. I don’t feel like I got much of a “break” because we seemed to be getting ready or in the car. The students returned with A LOT of energy, more so than normal, and matching that energy was tough. We saw many people, but because there were so many people, I didn’t feel like I connected all that well. It was nice to have Thursday and Friday off, but I don’t think I slept in much beyond 6:00 AM. Exercise? What’s that?

#ugh

This isn’t the “complaining blog” so I’ll stop. As it is, like I said, I had nothing to write about. WordPress saved the day. Their prompt today was, “What is the hardest decision you’ve had to make?” It’s funny because we talked about this on our way to see our daughter on Thanksgiving.

In 1999, we were young, in love, and with a daughter who was about a year old. We took her to a graduation party for one of my wife’s cousins. It was a great time to see family, enjoy the time together, and all that jazz. The only problem: she decided to cry from the party back home. A five-hour drive. Nonstop. The only breaks were when my wife would sing to her (which they both loved), in about 45 minutes, my wife was tired of singing, so the crying started back up. It was then that we decided that we had to move closer to home.

I took a job at a school between my parents’ house and my in-laws’ farm. It was a relatively calm move and the rest is history. I spent 23 years there, taught 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders there, coached 20 years of girls’ basketball there, and now, I teach sixth grade and coach basketball somewhere else.

#soundsgood

I have lived a life I feel is full of experience, both large and small. I don’t have many “what if” moments. I was loved as a child and we went to some awesome places. We didn’t have much money (Dad was a teacher and Mom stayed home with us), but we were rich with experiences. Going to the theater, summer vacations, and other cultural things filled my childhood. College was amazing. I finally figured out who I was, met my wife and other cool people, and simply had the time of my life. My job is hard, but rewarding, and becoming a parent changed me for the better.

My only “what if” is moving back here. What if we would have stayed? We had a group of friends that we loved to hang out with on the weekends. We both had jobs that were rewarding and kept us on our toes. I taught fifth grade and my wife worked as a newspaper reporter. The town we lived in was thriving. Now, 23 years later, much has changed. Missouri is 49th in teach pay and a dumpster fire of culture war things going on. Iowa, unfortunatly, isn’t much better.

As I interviewed for jobs closer to home, we had this conversation all the time, is this what we need? Is this what our daughters need? Do we need to change right now?

While we finally said yes and our lives are what they are, we both go back to those conversation. Was this necessary? It’s hard to say. While our lives are full for sure, how would things be different had we stayed, all those years ago?

So hardest decision, hands down, was our move back to Iowa.

What about you? What’s the hardest decision you’ve had to make? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!