Never say "Never"

Makayla's room

all artwork and blinds down and walls freshly painted

When Randy and I bought this house, we felt as though we'd hit the Jackpot. We felt so blessed to have been able to finally purchase our first home, with all of the amenities we'd always wanted, after years of delayed gratification that comes with studying, moving, and barely making enough money to get by.

The house was in a great neighborhood, close to a great school. We told each other that we would never sell it. It would be passed down to our kids, even if we end up moving to Hawaii (a dream we had at one point). We put a lot of nice upgrades into it, on the inside and the outside.

I remember when we sat down last year and came to the realization that it would make no sense to leave the country and rent this house. We knew in our hearts that apart from the logistical difficulty of doing so, that even if we were to ever come back to the United States to live, we would not ever want to return to Arizona.

So, what were we really holding onto the house for?

I have seen so many of my wealthy counterparts buy and sell beautiful homes without even shedding a tear. For many of them, it was just a given, a natural part of life to be secure in the knowledge that property would come just as certainly as it would go and that acquisition of wealth was a guarantee.

When you don't have certain things in abundance, you tend to hold onto them the tightest.

We are so excited to leave behind a material achievement for the intangible. We have had our taste of the American dream and we know that it is certainly not enough for us. We know that things that others may value more mean less to us than our peace and safety does.

I said I would never sell you, my forever home, but here I am, getting you ready for another family to fall in love with. I have become teary eyed many times over the last couple weeks and I know that I will continue to, but I am so proud of Randy and me for having the strength to say goodbye.