Your Daddy and I, after years of careful prayer, consideration, and trying, have made a very big decision.
We are moving to Dothan.
It's so funny to say that. My entire life, I could not wait to get away from there. I thought it was boring, too small, too close knit. I didn't like going to Wal-Mart and seeing fifteen people that I knew. I didn't like that it only took fifteen minutes to go from one side of town to the other. I didn't like that the only sources of entertainment in high school were a miniature golf course and field parties. There was no Target there when I was in high school. There is still no free standing Starbucks. And for pete's sake, the biggest event of the year is a festival about a peanut.
I always said, "When I get older, I'm moving to Birmingham." Now, Birmingham to most of the country would seem rather insignificant. But to a person from Dothan, moving to Birmingham is like moving to New York City. There's lots of people. Two giant malls. Nightlife. Suburbs. Concerts. AN INTERSTATE.
All things Dothan doesn't have. Dothan is slow. It's pokey. Chain stores and restaurants are replaced with fast food joints and family owned restaurants. Whenever someone finds out where you grew up, they ask if you know so-and-so. Chances are, you probably do. Or you know their cousin.
But probably a year after Your Daddy and I got married, I got really homesick. I missed that pokey little town after being gone for several years. I missed my friends that I grew up with. I missed being close to my mother. I missed my church. And I missed Mama Rosa's.
So we tried to make a move work then. Your Daddy applied with the Dothan Police Department way back when he was applying for all sorts of police departments. He tested, but he wasn't hired. They didn't hire anyone.
We were quite disappointed. I was SURE that I was hearing from God that Dothan is where we were supposed to be. I was SURE that this was going to happen. I cried like crazy when we found out we weren't moving. Had I heard wrong?
So he accepted the job with Birmingham, and we moved on with our life, thinking that this is where we would be.
And it's fine! I love Birmingham. It is a beautiful city. We have lots of friends here. Your Daddy grew up here. Your GranBren is here. We have everything that we need at our fingertips. I enjoyed my job, we had purchased a home, Ben was hired with the BPD and was really looking forward to fulfilling his dream of becoming an officer.
And then we got pregnant. You were on your way. And Your Daddy and I both realized that we wanted to give you a different kind of home than what we would give you here in Birmingham.
We would never be able to afford to live in the area we would want to be in here in Birmingham - an area that would provide you with the best schools and you would grow up with the same group of friends your whole life. We would never be able to afford one very big thing that Your Daddy and I both feel very strongly about - me staying home to be your mommy full time. It also doesn't hurt that Your GiGi lives there.
Dothan would provide us with those opportunities.
So Your Daddy waited until hiring began at Dothan in December, filled out his application, and we waited.
It wasn't long before he got the phone call to come in for the physical test, and the written test, and all the other parts of the hiring process. Since he is already a certified officer, the hiring is relatively easy.
The day Your Daddy left for the test, we prayed together, like we always do. We prayed that if Dothan is where we are supposed to be, that God would make it happen. Everything with finances, the house, the jobs, and the move would fall into place. We laid it down.
And boy, did God answer that prayer.
We thought at first that we would sell the house, so we put it on the market as a short sale. Nothing happened. So I took a risk and listed it on Craigslist as a rental. Within five minutes, I received a response from a couple in South Dakota who were originally from the area and wanted to move back. Our house was the perfect size, the perfect price, the perfect place, and would take their two fur babies. And she told me they wanted to move in April.
We already knew that Your Daddy was beginning work with Dothan on April 1.
We decided after we move that I will stay at home with you instead of working full time. On a police officer's salary, this is going to be tough. But I have had several people ask for me to do some contract design/web/marketing work for them from home. And then I scored a brand new computer that will do everything I need it to do for a quarter of it's regular price.
We looked at several rental houses in Dothan, none of which felt quite right. A lot of them were out of our price range, wouldn't take Charlotte, or were kinda gross. There was one that we loved the house, but the area was a little questionable. So Your GiGi (who doesn't usually butt in to our affairs much...she made an exception for this time) visited an apartment complex for us. She found out that they had a three bedroom apartment coming available April 1, they would allow us to have Charlotte, the rent was in our budget, and they are needing a Courtesy Officer to help with the office.
GiGi put the deposit down for us that day.
So then I began to freak out about moving. We were estimating costs with moving companies and rental trucks, and we just couldn't afford it. I didn't know how we would move a whole house full of furniture and stuff to Dothan. So Your GiGi was just talking to a friend at church about us needing help moving and with a truck. Someone behind her said, "What do you need trucks for? I have trucks."
Timing with Your Daddy's job and my job fell right into place. Timing with Mrs. Maegan worked out to almost exactly a year of you being at her house. Your Daddy is already there, and I am finishing out the week of work before we move this weekend.
Everything is perfect. There has never been a clearer sign of what we are supposed to do.
So you, my dear sweet girl, will grow up in my hometown. You will go to the church I grew up in. My friends' children will be your friends.
And then when you are sixteen, you will be saying, "I can't wait to move away from Dothan." But just a short ten years, a marriage, and a kid later, you will be dying to come back.
Because this town gets in your soul. And you realize how nice it is to see a familiar face everywhere that you go. To see the Samaras every Sunday at Mama Rosa's. To know the dark and scary corners of your church that you hide in while Your Mommy is at choir practice. To drive past landmarks and tell your husband all the different things about them. To remember what that hill looked like before Target and Moe's were there. To know what downtown looked like before they began to restore it. To remember the murals being painted on the sides of buildings or fiberglass peanuts going up around local businesses, thinking it was a little bit nuts, and then seeing just how gorgeous and special they are. Knowing when the farmers begin to turn the peanuts because the air smells different. Hanging out on a truck tailgate with a bonfire. Friday nights at the ballfield and Saturdays at the mall. Armband night at the Peanut Festival. Larry's BBQ, Dante's, and Hunt's.
Life changes. Wants change. Needs change. Hearts change.
I can't wait to be there.
