Welcome Home

If you’ve ever anguished over whether to relocate to a new city, you probably remember the uneasiness of whether it is the right move. I was reminded of that as I met our church’s new pastor and his wife.

Tim and I left West Virginia in 1981 to seek our fame and fortune in Colorado, driving a well-worn 1972 Buick Skylark, pulling a single axle U-Haul trailer with all of our belongings. While interviewing for jobs we left our U-Haul trailer chained and locked to a telephone pole in a run-down area of Denver and zigzagged around Colorado. A recession was taking a toll on the country and the 100 job-hunting letters we had sent prior to leaving on our trip proved futile. Eight months later Tim was offered a job and we moved to Phoenix, Arizona. The winters were paradise—summers were unbearably hot.

Five years later we began searching for a climate that fit our lifestyle of skiing in the winter and biking in the summer. I was offered a job in the mountains of Colorado. After we moved there, we learned the secret of how people who live in Vail have money—they come with it. Someone forgot to tell us. After three years we begin to search for a new place to live that still fit our lifestyle, but had a more reasonable cost-of-living.

We explored over two-dozen cities in the west and chose Salt Lake City, Utah. Within six months we both had gainful employment. During the 13 years we lived there we moved around to a few rental houses before purchasing a home. Then we moved back to West Virginia to be with our families.

After five years we felt the urge to move west and we took a six-week trip through Colorado, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming looking for a place that resonated with us. We chose the high desert of Southern Oregon in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range. We have been in Klamath Falls almost six years.

Most every time we moved, our neighbors, people from church or our places of employment greeted us with a welcome packet, a basket with wine and cheese or a dinner invitation.

My gift today for our new minister and his wife were items that represent the beauty of Oregon—a coffee mug with a lake and volcanic mountain, refrigerator magnet with a print of a bald eagle and bookmark with a photo of Crater Lake National Park.

I hope they will fondly look forward to their new adventure as I say, “welcome home.”

In Giving,

Robin