Why we live where we live, revisited

[sidheguitarmichael]

Jun 20, 2008 7:40:39 GMT -5 mnhermit said:

...but the folks convinced me to apply to their alma mater, Wash. St. Univ. - ended up there and inertia kept me there for eighteen years. I fell in love with rolling hills of wheat, raft trips down wild rivers, the illusion of youth of a college town (Pullman) and the open spaces of Eastern Washington.

It's all still pretty much there, in case you're curious!

-MM

[aquaduct]

Grew up in the suburbs of Detroit.

Wound up married to the daughter of displaced Virginia hillbillies and working as an automotive engineer for one of the Big 3.

Got an MBA from U. of M. and one day read an ad for a start-up truck manufacturer in Front Royal, VA.

Thought that would be a fascinating use of my education and my sweetheart was thrilled to be carried back to ole Virginny.

Got the gig and moved to Winchester, VA just up the road.

That company folded. Worked for a supplier plant in Winchester. That plant was moved to Guadalajara, Mexico.

Considered a number of jobs that would have required relocation and decided the place was too nice to leave. It is the Shenandoah Valley after all.

Just before the money ran out, got a job designing emission control systems for heavy duty truck engines about an hour north in Maryland. Stayed put in the Valley.

And then in November got a promotion to the DC offices. Still live in the same spot in the Valley.

Kids have grown up here. It's full of memories and adventures. The wife wants me to buy a new motorcycle because these little back roads and creeks are just so much fun to find on the bike.

To tell the truth, it wouldn't be a bad place to be buried.

[Cornflake]

I find all of these very interesting.

[patrick]

I was born in Texas. My mother had 4 children in the heat and humidity of the Texas summers in the days before air conditioning. She still swears Houston is a place unfit for human habitation.

Anyway, 6 months later, they moved the family back to South Bend Indiana, where she was from, and I spent the next 5 years there. In 1960, my father got a job in the then burgeoning aerospace industry in Southern California and moved us to the San Fernando Valley, where I spent the next 30 years, growing up in the sunshine, going to the beach, swimming pool in the back yard of nearly every house.

Went to UCLA for my BA, then USC for my Ph.D. in Pathology. Met and married my wife, who had finished her MA in Communication. I was looking for a post-doc position and landed one at NIH in Bethesda, MD and Jane got into grad school at U Md College Park, so that worked out well.

I finished my post-doc and went looking for jobs but the biotech industry was in a slump and there was a surplus of molecular biology types, so I ended up at the Patent and Trademark Office as an Examiner. I liked the work, but the PTO sucked so I went looking again and ended up back at NIH in the Cancer Institute in an office that handles patenting and collaborations with industry, etc. Jane is now teaching at Johns-Hopkins and loves it, so we'll probably stay here, but if we won the lottery we might very well move away to someplace less crowded.

[sekhmet]

What a terrifically interesting and varied bunch of people we are!

I was born in Victoria, B.C., where my family had been posted after the war. We were posted to Montreal in 1950. I actually remember the train trip. Me and Teddy.

Grew up in Montreal - the only person in my family beside my father who was not born in Nova Scotia. I loved Montreal. If I had been old enough to say no, I would never have left. My father retired from the army and moved us to Peterborough, Ontario, a medium sized anglophone city, where I suddenly was old enough to say no and I left home. Lived with a family in a small village north of the city, finished high school, worked in the family law office and spent tons of time with horses.

Moved to Toronto to go to York University in the fall of '67. Completed a year, faced the fact that there was no money to finish a degree (and no government help because my father refused to co-operate) ("It's a waste of money to send a girl to university.")

Took a job in a law office in Toronto, spent a lot of time learning about art, living on Ward's Island - the coolest address in town at the time. Decided to go to Japan to join up with some of my University friends, took a trip to the Bruce Peninsula for the weekend and spent my 'plane fare on a piece of land.

Back to Toronto for ten years. Rachel born, attended the Ontario College of Art, and moved back up here to the Bruce when I graduated. Took a job as a historical and legal researcher for the two local First Nations. Husband left. Raised Rachel. Met Lars. Store ... and now here I am.

I long for the ocean. I would move to Nova Scotia in a heartbeat, except for Lars' need to be where he is well known and can function well as a musician. Might do it anyway some day.

The shore of Nova Scotia is my true "Lake Isle of Innisfree".

"I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core. "

[t-bob]

Sekh wrote, "I long for the ocean."
Me too, and I long for the warm ocean, which is why I'll probably move to Central America. Otherwise I'd find a spot on the ocean in CT, MA, or ME. No more winters for this boy.

[Ann T]

I'm originally from the Los Angeles area, but my dad was suddenly transferred to Northern Virginia (near DC) in the summer of 1969 when I was just starting 8th grade. I spent my high school years in Northern Virginia, which had a much better public school system than the one I left and a terrific music program, but none of us thin-blooded Californians could take the winters. I felt the culture shock, coming from a beach-y 60's So-Cal culture to a staid, "yes ma'am, no sir" more formal, tradition-soaked culture. I went back to Southern California for college at Pomona College, but then returned (being a state resident) to Virginia (Richmond) for medical school, and then stayed on for 4 years of postgraduate training in pathology because it had a good training program. Early in med school, my dad finally succeeded in getting a job back in Southern California, but down in San Diego County (he didn't want to go back to L.A.). I started spending school vacations with them and fell in love with the area (semi-rural, horse friendly, nice climate, close enough to amenities), so that became my goal to move out there when I finished my training. So, in the summer of 1986, we drove cross-country to start my first job here. My then-husband could not stand the change, pouted for 9 years, and we split up. He moved to Georgia.

[Tamarack]

Grew up in Detroit and Cleveland suburbs, the youngest child of WWII vets. Dad was a personnel manager for several GM divisions. Came to west Michigan to go to a small, church-affiliated, liberal arts college (Hope College). Hope had a good reputation in science -- I was going to be either a physician or forest ranger (ended up in geology because you can be an outdoorsperson and get paid for it). During college I planned to move out of state to some place with mountains, oceans, or both.

After being rejected by grad schools in Vermont, southern Indiana, and Wisconsin, I ended up at Western Michigan U in Kalamazoo. Still wanted to move out of state, but decided I could live in west Michigan, Lake Michigan and the north woods being major draws.

Got a job in Grand Rapids, met Dawn, got laid off, got a job offer in St. Louis, made a hasty decision to marry and move to St. Louis. Great city, beautiful state, lots of good friends, horrible climate. Adopted Zack in 1988 and decided to move closer to grandparents and extended family. Spent three years in Ann Arbor/Detroit area, adopted Ana in 1992, moved back to Grand Rapids to be even closer to extended family (both sets of grandparents within 45 minutes).

Living in Grand Rapids for better or worse and will probably die here. Grand Rapids has all the amenities of a big city and is slowly becoming more cosmopolitian. It is easy to get out of town to Lake Michigan or the north woods. Lots of people around who have lived in west Michigan for generations (Dutch Reformed and Polish Catholic) who are both blessed by and bound by tradition. The city of Grand Rapids usually votes Democratic, the surrounding area is solidly Republican (the last Republican they voted against was Abraham Lincoln; John McCain is a little too liberal).

Moving back to west Michigan has been worthwhile in giving our children roots in an extended family. Zack is particularly tight with his maternal grandfather -- by some miracle of nature or nurture, they have exactly the same personality -- big-hearted, gregarious, also stubborn and argumentative.

[iamjohnne]

Hey Flake and Marty and Tramp and whosomever else monitors this board, lets wait until everyone has posted and then keep it. This is really interesting wonderful stuff.

[Marshall]

inertia

[Cornflake]

"Hey Flake and Marty and Tramp and whosomever else monitors this board, lets wait until everyone has posted and then keep it. This is really interesting wonderful stuff. "

Good idea. It's library-bound.

[knobtwister]

I was born in Travelers Rest SC, about 10 miles north of Greenville and lived for 5 years in Marietta about 10 miles north of TR. Then the family moved to a subdivsion about 10 miles east of Greenville. I've pretty much lived in the same area for 50 years. I'm only 2-3 miles from the house we moved to in 1957.

I did spend almost 3 years in Atlanta on a job that was nearly 100% travel so I got to see a lot of the US or at least a lot of airports.

I have also on multiple occasions over a 10 year period lived in the mountains in Cruso NC for periods that ranged from a few months to a year and a half. It's beautiful country but I never could get a dependable job that would pay enough to make it there. I gave up 25 years ago.

So here I am just about where I started.

Don

[Village Idiot]

I hail from a family of mis-placed midwesterners.

My Dad's parents both grew up on farms in Northern Missouri. That side of the family has been in the US since the 1600's. My Grandpa became a research veterinarian, which, after stints as a meat inspector in Chicago during the depression, eventually carried him to Hyattsville, MD, where he did research at the National Animal Disease Labratory. In the 30's, the bought a cabin on a part of the Chesapeake that is still undeveloped, believe it or not.

My Mom's family is very German, both sides of her family moving here in the early 20th century. Her father was born on a farm in east Nebraska. During the Dust Bowl he pulled himself up by his bootstraps and went into chemical engineering. He's on the way-back list of having something to do with the Manhatten Project, and met my grandmother in New York City, whose father's soft coal business address was 1 Broadway. I'd love to see 1 Broadway. My grandfather worked for Dupont, and because of the job my mother wound up living in 4 different places growing up. When my Grandfather retired to Florida, we'd spend two weeks every summer there, and I fell in love with the ocean.

I was born in Athens Georgia where both of my folks attended veterinary school. While there, the National Animal Disease Labratory moved to Ames, Iowa, and my paternal grandparents happily followed there, happy to return to the midwest. My folks moved to Ames when I was three, as my Dad was hired as a microbioligist at the Lab, where he eventually retired.

My mother had one brother who never married. My Dad had one brother, who took up farming in Iowa. We spent about every weekend on that dairy farm, my cousin and brother and I, armed with bb guns, shooting every bird we could see and each other in the hay mow and then each other when the birds figured it out and left.

On a whim, my Dad got a job teaching in Nairobi, Kenya, where we lived for four years. When we flew away I couldn't see the African plain below because of the tears. It's been years, and I was young, but God I miss that place.

We moved back to the same house in Ames when I was in high school. Four years is a long time for teenagers, and the friend I had before treated me like a ghost. My aunt and uncle had sold their farm in Iowa and moved to Nova Scotia. I spent my end of high school years crossing the river a quarter mile from our house and wandering the woods. Rain, shine, winter, summer, I wandered the woods, home when it got dark. Looking back, I should have made some friends, but it was depressing leaving Africa, and I spent prom night abandoning people for trees, out in a tent by the river. Most of my Dad's friends were farmers, and I spent a lot of time on farms as well. Baling hay, harvesting oats, cutting pigs, shelling corn, all that kind of stuff. It brought me back to my uncle's farm; I've always loved that environment, and never argued when my Dad offered me as free help.

I went to school for a year at the University of Northern Iowa, where I met Kim. Wanderlust struck, though, and I abandoned school to hitch hike, sleep under bridges, live in weird places with weird friends and spend a few nights in missions. This is a phase of my life I would never trade. Sure that my folks would be disappointed in my lack of accomplishment, to the point where I was homeless for most of a half decade. My Dad said to me, "this is your Africa." In other words, my folks understood, and assumed that someday I'd become normal.

I am normal. Kim found me five years later, and we wound up getting married. I convinced her to move to North Carolina, which is a beautiful place that I'd traveled to many times. The night before we were to leave, I found her in tears. She wanted to move home, which was Vinton.

We've been in Vinton now for 20 years. It has a river for fishing, a grocery store and a library. It has much more than that, but those are the things that convinced me to move there.

Vinton is home to me. Our daughters have grown up surrounded by family, which is wonderful to me. I'm not a native, but have been here long enough to be considered a part of the community, and gosh darn it, the people here seem to like me. I don't care how much the place floods, I'm home now, and I'm not budging.

[t-bob]

"Vinton is home to me. Our daughters have grown up surrounded by family, which is wonderful to me. I'm not a native, but have been here long enough to be considered a part of the community, and gosh darn it, the people here seem to like me. I don't care how much the place floods, I'm home now, and I'm not budging."

Well said, Todd!

[billhammond]

Todd -- wonderfully told, as usual, and revealing, as well. No wonder you are such a Renaissance Man!

Is there a chapter I missed, though, about finishing college, or did you not do that? I assume that because you teach, you have a degree.

(And if you don't, not to worry -- I'll still respect you in the morning.)

[Don Clark]

Wow.....I just found this. And it really is good. Not even done reading yet, but I need to go make hamburger patties and work on supper. I'll come back at the first opportunity to read more and post.

Too cool. I appreciate all the sharing.

[Doug]

I've lived all over. Born in N. MS, jr and sr HS in Orlando. USMC - San Diego, 29 Palms, Paris Island, Jacksonville NC, Monkey Mountian VN. N Turo, MA, Aberdeen WA, Tacoma/Seattle WA a few times, Pullman WA WSU, Couple of more places in FL. Now looks like SW AZ in the winter and we don't know where in the summer.

[Village Idiot]

Jun 21, 2008 16:06:28 GMT -5 billhammond said:

Is there a chapter I missed, though, about finishing college, or did you not do that? I assume that because you teach, you have a degree.

I finished college after we moved to Vinton, at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, after Taylor was born. To all young whipersnappers out there: Finish college before you have a family. It ain't easy after you're married and have kids.

I'm enjoying reading this thread very much. What a group of interesting people we are!

[sidheguitarmichael]

As an aside, welcome back, water-boy!

[Don Clark]

Born a Buckeye on March 5th, 1951 in Zanesville, Ohio to Richard E. (Dick) and Dorothy R. Brill Clark.....no, not the Dick Clark.....the youngest of 3 sons. Dad was from Columbus, Ohio. Brother Rick was also, brother Bill in Cleveland. Spent my first two years in Zanesville, the next two in Canton, Ohio. So much for Ohio. Left there in '55 and never went back. Dad was an Ohio State Alumni with a degree in Ceramic Engineering. Spent his life in sales of raw materials for the ceramics-related industry at the corporate level. Mom was an Okie from Shawnee, who took many years of piano and was a damn good keyboard player. She had all 3 movements of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in her head. Loved to hear her play that. Had the first movement (the most popular) played at her memorial service when she died in '80. Couldn't listen to it again for a number of years. Can now, and occasionally noodle with it on guitar.....some day, I'll have a fingerstyle arrangement of it.

Brother Rick is 61, lives in Brea, Ca. and has been a lifer in advertising and graphic arts, also a pioneer in the use of the PC in graphics. It was on his '58 Gibson that I cut my teeth on in '60. Brother Bill is 59, lives in Cottonwood, AZ and works in real estate in the Century21 office in Sedona. Thats about 1½ hours north of Cornflake Country. Both married and divorced, Bill remarried and between the two of them there are 6 kids.

One notable memory - Dad, the brothers, and I were always punning around and were all pretty good with them (I know, thats a matter of opinion). My mom was not. We'd be sitting at the dinner table in the evening and Dad would say something to trigger a chain of puns around the table.....kinda of like we do in here ). Dad.....then Rick.....then Bill.....then me. We'd be falling out of our chairs laughing when Mom tried to add to it. It never worked. We'd all put down our forks and look at her with straight faces - then look at each other with puzzled looks. She used to get so pissed! Then we'd crack up again and go back to eating.

Where all (to get back on topic) have I lived? Zanesville and Canton, Ohio - Tulsa - Dallas - Various towns in Orange County, Ca. at various times - Wilton and West Hartford, Connecticut - Gaithersburg, Maryland - Denver, Colo. - Franklin, Tn. - Fowler, Kansas.....and there was no military relocations. I've just been around.

All for now.....I'm tired.