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Work is mobile, want to move back to the farm that I own, and live off of the land. The land is paid for, so we could live cheaper, and more freely than we do now. Have any of you gone home and had it work the way you wanted?
Great relationships with all family members already.
I returned to my small hometown by choice after 4 years of college away from home and two years living and working in one of the largest cities in the country.
I returned to my rural hometown of 7,000 as a 24-year old professional for two main reasons:
1. A job opened up in a field I was interested in breaking into, and I was a shoo-in for it, given than small communities in the middle of sparsely populated agricultural areas do not often attract a wealth of applicants, ad because being a "local" gave me a distinct edge over a stranger, given the public nature of the job (local newspaper reporter and editor). In short, it was a good place to learn the job, without having to learn a new community. It was also an inexpensive place, important in a traditionally low-paying professional field.
2. My grandmother, to whom I was very close, was continuing a long and difficult decline due to Alzheimer's Disease, and my immediate family was thrust into the role of handling her well-being, her estate, and all her affairs. It was important to me to be with family during this time.
I never intended to stay for the long term, as it was not a place where I could realistically build my own life...I was performing essentially the only professional role that applied to my skills and interests and was available in the area, and that job topped out after about seven years. There was nowhere to go professionally. There were limited social opportunities, and as far as meeting someone to build a future with, that wasn't happening. It was not a place for a young adult to build a life, unless that person got married out of high school (as most did).
I love my hometown, and loved the years spent being close to my family. I did not enjoy, ultimately, being stuck in a job that was never going to surpass a certain level of experience and responsibility, and couldn't be moved on from without leaving the area. I did not enjoy having essentially no like-minded, similarly aged peers at my disposal. I did not enjoy every attempt at dating having to involve driving at least an hour and a half one way to a major population center.
In short, it was not the place for me to live, long-term, starting at age 24. It was not a place to begin to build my adult life. It's a wonderful place, but it wasn't a good fit for me in my twenties. It did serve its purpose, however, which was to provide work experience I wanted, and to allow me to be near my family during an important time.
Work is mobile, want to move back to the farm that I own, and live off of the land. The land is paid for, so we could live cheaper, and more freely than we do now. Have any of you gone home and had it work the way you wanted?
Great relationships with all family members already.
They say you can't go home but having a place that is paid off can make it at least feel more like you have. We recently bought a small farm place for retirement near my wife's childhood home, a place that also holds a lot of memories for me as well. We did this after working and living in several major cities and we love it. My aches and pains caused by my age tells me it's not my childhood home but "it ain't bad."
BTW, if you are an old Red Raider, your farm may be close to ours.
My raider is orange, my husband and I are empty nesters, and there are several farm related things I want to try doing, and am already working with them in one big way. Right now I drive an hour few times a week to do the work. But, each time I come out of my office in the barn, I look over at this spot across the road, back against the trees and see my imaginary house. Then I drive home to my house with a mortgage and wonder what am I doing. Husband and I have 3 small businesses, but all with small alterations could be handled from the farm.
I see. I thought perhaps you were a former Texas Tech Red Raider from Lubbock.
Yes, I understood that you would have no mortgage. My small farm is also free and clear and that's why I mentioned that owing no one comes closer to "going home", a time in your young life when you probably did not owe anyone anything.
Today I am doing farm-related things that I would rather not be doing, cleaning up one corner of the property that the previous owners used as a scrap metal and broken concrete dump. Thank God and Henry Ford for tractors!
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