The question that most people ask, when they find out that I call California home, is......"what brought you to Charlotte?".....It's a big question with more than one answer.
On August 12, 2008, I left Merced, California in my Kia Sorento, with my best friend (since 9th grade) in the passenger seat. We were headed for Charlotte, North Carolina, and we were excited about traveling over 3,000 miles together. We figured it would give us both a chance to reminisce about our friendship and figure out what this long distance relationship would look like.
Now don't get me wrong. Both of us are military brats that are used to travel and being disconnected from friendships that we may have developed. It wasn't as if we had never been apart from one another. As a matter of fact, I was in the military myself and spent some of my adult life in Germany. This was different.
In 2005, my husband and I began to discuss moving out of California. It was something that I had thought about for a long time, but I wasn't sure where I wanted to live nor did I have a solid plan. I knew I was tired of the community that I lived in (for various reasons) and I felt as if evolution was on the other side of the country.
The more we discussed it, the clearer things became. We did some research on Atlanta, Georgia and ruled it out. Then Richmond, Virginia (I spent some time in the summer, every year, visited my grandparents when I was a child - they lived in Virginia) which was extremely promising. Ultimately, we started thinking about North Carolina.
I was pretty familiar with the Carolinas - my oldest daughter had completed a semester of college in South Carolina and eventually moved to North Carolina. I also traveled to Greensboro every year on business, and I really enjoyed the culture and environment. The more we debated, the more we liked the idea.
In 2006, I traveled to Charlotte with that same best friend and another one of the yayas (a close group of female friends) to look at property and spend time with a realtor. Cleveland had also come out on his own. By 2007, we had purchased a lot and selected our builders. We literally chose all of our interior options and upgrades using the internet and when the color choices weren't definitive, our daughter would go to the showroom and deliver a report. It was an exhilarating, magnificent time!
Then the bomb dropped. The financial crisis of 2008 created the biggest disruption to the U.S. housing market since the Great Depression. Our home in California went from being worth a quarter of a million dollars to having no real value at all. Our plan to sell was now a pipe dream.
At this point, there was no going backwards (construction was well under way) and we were financially responsible for two homes. The story gets better. Cleveland was working for Mclane Pacific (a grocery distributor that operated nationally) and he was offered a position in Concord (20 mins from where our new property was located) - ideal, right? I thought so. There was one problem. They wanted him to start prior to August 12 which meant, he would have to leave California before I did. I was perfectly okay with that - I figured between my Church family, real family and friends, I could get the house packed up and get on the road. He turned down the job.
So, now we are financially responsible for two homes AND my husband doesn't have a job in North Carolina. A dream suddenly seemed like a nightmare. We did end up renting our home prior to leaving California, but we couldn't rent it for what we owed on it, so each month, for many years, we had to make up the difference.
Before we left California, we received a call from the realtor who let us know that construction had been pushed back because of weather conditions and, in addition, there were other homeowners that had priority over us. The conclusion to this story was the latest of several disappointing facts. Our home would not be done by the time we arrived in Charlotte.
Just to make sure you are keeping up with all of the facts, let's cover the highlights. 1. We are responsible for two homes 2. Cleveland's job in North Carolina is no longer available. 3. We have no where to live when we arrive in Charlotte. Are you with me? As people of faith, we obviously didn't believe that it was the end of the world, it just felt like it. Out of respect for your time, let me wrap up this story and put a bow on it.
I arrived in Albemarle, North Carolina (at my daughter's house) on August 16, 2008, late in the evening. My husband pulled in shortly behind me in a U-haul truck with my then, 13-year-old daughter and my son who was on his way to start a new life in Florida, where he currently lives. After meeting with the realtor, the next day, and getting our stuff loaded into a pod, my husband boarded a plane and went back to his old job in California where he stayed for the next year.
I lived in temporary housing in Albemarle (not my daughter's house) and for three months, five days a week, 4 times a day, an hour each way, I traveled back and forth taking my daughter to her new high school in Charlotte. To say that these were trying times would be putting it mildly. I missed my husband, my friends, my family and the familiarity of a life that I had perfected and that was perfect for me.
I went from being socially and politically connected to being severely depressed and having a difficult time communicating with others. At my lowest point, Honoree' came home from school (after we had finally moved in the new house) and asked me if I was going to change clothes today. When I gave her a puzzled look, she said, "mommy you have been wearing those clothes for three days".
During this time, I bent, but I never broke. So when people ask me "what brought you to Charlotte?", I respond with many answers, but without a doubt, the Lord not only brought me, but he kept me.
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