difficult choices are...well, difficult

I post at a creative workshop (see the link for inkndoodles) and one of my fellow posters published a very heart-rending poem about his struggle with moving away from his home in search of greener pastures, something I think we all yearn for in one form or another. I've decided to post a somewhat edited version of my response here. I can't always be about making fun of my world, since it's a world I do cherish and have sacrificed immensely to have. It may also explain some things about me, and perhaps expose a bit more than I ordinarily would in a public forum.

Our second exile (the exile of my parents from Cuba, our exile from our mini-Cuba) carries with it some heavy sacrifice, least of which is pastelitos and a quick cafe at the Sedano's window. In many ways, it mirrors our parents' ideological crisis. In the end, it is about quality of life.

We found ourselves, in Miami, living above our means to stay barely afloat, not an indictment on my husband's ability to provide for the family, but the overwhelming cost of living, and the prohibitive "extra's" that do make life comfortable and enriching.

The move to Georgia was bittersweet--to leave family behind is not as dramatic as my parents' experience--afterall, we visit, we communicate, we're together several times a year. The pain has been in the daily life that accumulates over weeks and months, and is best illustrated through the children, who grow dramatically between visits. But the children, in spite of the distance, have had the opprotunity to grow up in an environment, that until now, escaped the encroaching hassles of the rat race we ran from in Miami.

Affordable housing? We have a modest home that's spacious and comfortable (getting a little tight with 5 adult-sized people now--but our next home will be a down-size)and with the exodus to college beginning in the fall, soon to be even bigger. Traffic woes? Not really. The furthest we travel is all the way across town for church. That takes 15 minutes at a leisurely pace. We can make it in ten if we oversleep. Work for John is less than 10 minutes away. He can, and has come home for lunch. Regularly. It's closer than running to McDonald's. In the end, cheaper and healthier (OK, forget that he could pack his lunch--but it's not the same).

School and activities: There's plenty to do, and all of it more than we could have done in Miami. Sports, the arts, school activities--all of it within 5 miles. Everybody is home by 6 (OK, there's an occassional late rehearsal and game)and we're seeing signs of empty nest--you know, the kids have their interests, their activities, going out, etc.

In short though, we have been blessed with good neighbors, good people in the community, parents of friends who share our values, that the kids have had experiences and opportunities that would have been not just fiscally impossible in Miami, but prohibitive because of time. Don't confuse my banter making fun of southern culture with a lack of cosmopolitan opportunities. My kids have traveled more than most kids their age, and I can say it would have been impossible in Miami, where just going to the beach presented a sacrifice.

It's a bittersweet drink, but like our parents before us, our role is to do what we feel is right for the family that God has created through us.