Our Great Venture West - How a Bad Job, Hugh Jackman, and a Trip to Colorado Changed Everything
Dear M&M,
We're moving (moved) to California. How did it happen? You will probably have a few theories: mid-life crisis, your parents impulsiveness has gotten out of control, or even Mommy and Daddy became tech-moguls who want to be close to Silicon Valley. For sure, the 3rd option is not correct (sorry). However, believe it or not, this plan has been a long time coming, and it just took a sign from the Universe (or several) to get us back on track.
As you know, after your Mom and I got married in Vegas (not helping the impulsiveness theory noted above). I quit my job working on the construction of a power plant because your Mom and I had a plan. We met people in my time and the power plant, who traveled the country to all different places, building different projects. The decision for me to go into engineering was not only born from interest in the subject matter, but also our interest in living that lifestyle.
After graduation, attempt #1 led us to upstate New York, working towards big engineering projects, and barely making enough to make ends meet. Needless to say, that was a failure. We moved back around home, and had some great years. We moved into a few different houses and communities, and got very comfortable. I eventually got away from building anything cool at all, and got a job with a group who was very good at making money.
One day, I woke up and realized that I was not doing anything I had set out to do, but outside of work, everything was perfect. We had each other and lived in a great neighborhood, I’m always head over heels in love with my my all-time dream girl, we had great friends, great family, and access to anything we could want to spend our time with. I began to make little concessions, like work is just something we have to do, and if life is so great, nothing to worry about.
Things got worse, however, because the job turned out to be terrible. Several all-nighters, too much stress, and lack of any challenging thinking were making me miserable. Money was rolling in, and the perks were great, but the price was too steep. I was unhappy.
One random day around that time, we watched The Greatest Showman. Between it's super catchy tunes and corny dialog, there was an overwhelming message of chasing your dreams. Not only chasing your dreams, but showing a world to your family while you do. Eventually, Hugh Jackman realizes that fame and money were never what he was chasing. He wanted to entertain and show amazing things to the world, then understood the most amazing thing was his family. (Relevant sidenote: your Dad is a huge cheeseball)
To really rub it in, Marshall started singing "A Million Dreams" all the time. And even though the lesson was reinforced that family is the most important thing in the world, I remembered that there was more to being a Dad than just providing a nice stable life. You guys are so full of dreams (Maggie = singer/chef, Marshall - engineer), and have not been taught all the doubts and fears that sometimes stop us from seeing them through. The most important thing I can do is teach you two to chase your dreams. And there is no way I could look you two in the eyes and tell you to do that, when I wasn't chasing mine.
A conflict arose in our life, and your Mom and I spent a lot of time talking about it. But we were still a little too scared. Throwing our hat into the ring and traveling somewhere new was a big undertaking. We were on the verge of wishing our dreams were something else, something not so big. So we went along with our lives, and made the best of it. Along the way, we took a trip to visit our close friends (and Marshall's Godfather) out in Colorado. You guys loved every second of it, and had thousands of questions about the mountains and people who live around there. Our friends were having a blast, and you both were suddenly asking if we could move.
Finally, a great company hired several of my good work friends, and one of my friends took it upon himself to do my interview for me, and tricked me into a "casual lunch" which turned out to be an interview. This new company wanted me to go build some cool stuff, and travel the country while doing it. They explained that making money would eventually come, but if teaming up for real feats of engineering, while taking care of family, was what I wanted, I was in the right place.
Short of taking a baseball bat hitting me in the head with it, there were too many signs coming in to ignore. On top of that, your Mom, as usual, knew best. She was always asking questions she knew I couldn't answer, like "why are we waiting to move?", "if you're miserable why do you keep going to that job", and "did you remember to take the trash out?".
We had a few false starts the last several months, but we finally sold all of our stuff, and headed out to start our adventure. We ended up in a fun neighborhood, in scenic Sacramento, California. We are scheduled to be here for 11 months or so. Maybe it's that, maybe it's 11 years. Hopefully we love it, maybe we hate it. Who knows?
What I do know is we are chasing our dreams, I am living mine, and you guys are loving every minute of it. Change is hard, and we will miss our friends and family all the time. But we will stay in touch, see everyone when we can, and the 4 of us will be closer than ever. No matter what, you guys will know that it is alright to chase your dreams. It is alright to fail, as long as you go for it.
So here we are. Thanks for coming along, and of course, thanks for reading.
Love,
Dad
We're moving (moved) to California. How did it happen? You will probably have a few theories: mid-life crisis, your parents impulsiveness has gotten out of control, or even Mommy and Daddy became tech-moguls who want to be close to Silicon Valley. For sure, the 3rd option is not correct (sorry). However, believe it or not, this plan has been a long time coming, and it just took a sign from the Universe (or several) to get us back on track.
After graduation, attempt #1 led us to upstate New York, working towards big engineering projects, and barely making enough to make ends meet. Needless to say, that was a failure. We moved back around home, and had some great years. We moved into a few different houses and communities, and got very comfortable. I eventually got away from building anything cool at all, and got a job with a group who was very good at making money.
One day, I woke up and realized that I was not doing anything I had set out to do, but outside of work, everything was perfect. We had each other and lived in a great neighborhood, I’m always head over heels in love with my my all-time dream girl, we had great friends, great family, and access to anything we could want to spend our time with. I began to make little concessions, like work is just something we have to do, and if life is so great, nothing to worry about.
Things got worse, however, because the job turned out to be terrible. Several all-nighters, too much stress, and lack of any challenging thinking were making me miserable. Money was rolling in, and the perks were great, but the price was too steep. I was unhappy.
One random day around that time, we watched The Greatest Showman. Between it's super catchy tunes and corny dialog, there was an overwhelming message of chasing your dreams. Not only chasing your dreams, but showing a world to your family while you do. Eventually, Hugh Jackman realizes that fame and money were never what he was chasing. He wanted to entertain and show amazing things to the world, then understood the most amazing thing was his family. (Relevant sidenote: your Dad is a huge cheeseball)
To really rub it in, Marshall started singing "A Million Dreams" all the time. And even though the lesson was reinforced that family is the most important thing in the world, I remembered that there was more to being a Dad than just providing a nice stable life. You guys are so full of dreams (Maggie = singer/chef, Marshall - engineer), and have not been taught all the doubts and fears that sometimes stop us from seeing them through. The most important thing I can do is teach you two to chase your dreams. And there is no way I could look you two in the eyes and tell you to do that, when I wasn't chasing mine.
A conflict arose in our life, and your Mom and I spent a lot of time talking about it. But we were still a little too scared. Throwing our hat into the ring and traveling somewhere new was a big undertaking. We were on the verge of wishing our dreams were something else, something not so big. So we went along with our lives, and made the best of it. Along the way, we took a trip to visit our close friends (and Marshall's Godfather) out in Colorado. You guys loved every second of it, and had thousands of questions about the mountains and people who live around there. Our friends were having a blast, and you both were suddenly asking if we could move.
Finally, a great company hired several of my good work friends, and one of my friends took it upon himself to do my interview for me, and tricked me into a "casual lunch" which turned out to be an interview. This new company wanted me to go build some cool stuff, and travel the country while doing it. They explained that making money would eventually come, but if teaming up for real feats of engineering, while taking care of family, was what I wanted, I was in the right place.
Short of taking a baseball bat hitting me in the head with it, there were too many signs coming in to ignore. On top of that, your Mom, as usual, knew best. She was always asking questions she knew I couldn't answer, like "why are we waiting to move?", "if you're miserable why do you keep going to that job", and "did you remember to take the trash out?".
We had a few false starts the last several months, but we finally sold all of our stuff, and headed out to start our adventure. We ended up in a fun neighborhood, in scenic Sacramento, California. We are scheduled to be here for 11 months or so. Maybe it's that, maybe it's 11 years. Hopefully we love it, maybe we hate it. Who knows?
What I do know is we are chasing our dreams, I am living mine, and you guys are loving every minute of it. Change is hard, and we will miss our friends and family all the time. But we will stay in touch, see everyone when we can, and the 4 of us will be closer than ever. No matter what, you guys will know that it is alright to chase your dreams. It is alright to fail, as long as you go for it.
So here we are. Thanks for coming along, and of course, thanks for reading.
Love,
Dad
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