So How DID I End Up Here?

[so lucky]

Several of you in the north were asking yourself "How did I end up here?" so I thought that might be a fun thread:

Is this where you were born/raised? How many generations have lived where you live? Did you move here to pursue a job or with spouse for a job? Did you get mugged and drugged and thrown from the back of a cabbage truck passing through town?

I was born 25 miles from my house. I have lived in Seattle Washington, and Branson, MO, but most of my life I have lived within 50 miles of my birthplace. My parents were from here; their parents migrated from Michigan and from Arkansas with their parents. So my grandkids make it 6 generations living in this area.

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh, fun topic So lucky!
My sister ended up in MO by marrying a navy guy she met in San Diego. His family lives on your side of the state.

I'm Idaho born, 5th generation on dads side, third on moms.
My folks packed up 4 kids in a station wagon and high tailed it to San Diego for a better job when I was a squirt, so I grew up in the suburban and semi rural areas of S.D. county.

Spent summers at Gramma & Grampas in east ID. Lots of time with cousins on potato farms and cousins on dairy farms and town cousins. I loved everything Idaho. The huge trees over the cracked and buckled sidewalks, the green lawns, the canals everywhere, the picnics in the mountains and fishing with grampa in rivers and streams. Backpacking with dad. It was a golden, idyllic time with wonderful memories.
All of that drove us here, and I wish we had come much, much sooner.

 

[journey11]

I am the only person in my immediate family who has ever moved out of the county...just one county over.

My mom's side of the family goes back I don't know how many generations, at least 5 generations, probably more (my kids would be the 6th generation.) Dad's side came here from a couple counties over and has been here for 3 generations when my grandpa bought a farm down here. My grandma had no part in it... He went and bought it himself and said pack it up, we're moving. She divorced him some years later and ran off south to a big city to live the high life. She didn't care for that farm, but it is a fine piece of land with good timber and multiple water sources. My dad inherited it after wrestling the last quarter of it away from his step-mom in court. None of us kids know what he intends to do with it, but I hope he'll leave it to me!! I'll gladly buy the other 2 out. They have no mind to farm and would probably rather have the money.

DH's family moved here when he was a kid, coming down from the northern panhandle, not too far from where Monty and Dew live.

I moved away in my 20's, living in southwestern Virginia and central Texas for awhile, but country roads called me back home.

 

[journey11]

Oh, fun topic So lucky!
My sister ended up in MO by marrying a navy guy she met in San Diego. His family lives on your side of the state.

I'm Idaho born, 5th generation on dads side, third on moms.
My folks packed up 4 kids in a station wagon and high tailed it to San Diego for a better job when I was a squirt, so I grew up in the suburban and semi rural areas of S.D. county.

Spent summers at Gramma & Grampas in east ID. Lots of time with cousins on potato farms and cousins on dairy farms and town cousins. I loved everything Idaho. The huge trees over the cracked and buckled sidewalks, the green lawns, the canals everywhere, the picnics in the mountains and fishing with grampa in rivers and streams. Backpacking with dad. It was a golden, idyllic time with wonderful memories.
All of that drove us here, and I wish we had come much, much sooner.

That explains those beautiful taters you grow...it runs in your veins!

 

[so lucky]

I am the only person in my immediate family who has ever moved out of the county...just one county over.

My mom's side of the family goes back I don't know how many generations, at least 5 generations, probably more (my kids would be the 6th generation.) Dad's side came here from a couple counties over and has been here for 3 generations when my grandpa bought a farm down here. My grandma had no part in it... He went and bought it himself and said pack it up, we're moving. She divorced him some years later and ran off south to a big city to live the high life. She didn't care for that farm, but it is a fine piece of land with good timber and multiple water sources. My dad inherited it after wrestling the last quarter of it away from his step-mom in court. None of us kids know what he intends to do with it, but I hope he'll leave it to me!! I'll gladly buy the other 2 out. They have no mind to farm and would probably rather have the money.

DH's family moved here when he was a kid, coming down from the northern panhandle, not too far from where Monty and Dew live.

I moved away in my 20's, living in southwestern Virginia and central Texas for awhile, but country roads called me back home.

Gosh, I hope your dad doesn't decide to sell it without consulting with you. It would be really sad to lose the family farm without a say in it at all. Maybe you need to let him know how much you love the farm, while he is still able to comprehend and make a plan.

 

[lesa]

Third generation for my family... we did a couple moves to Maryland, but ended up back in upstate NY. My Dad was born about an hour away in Oneonta. I would love to move south- I dream of moving south...but now Mom and Dad are elderly and ill, so I need to stay around. My daughter is considering a move to Florida. She says she wants to go, but doesn't want to leave me. I keep trying to explain, that is how I ended up here! This area is positively wonderful spring, summer and fall- but then the 9 months of winter begin! Dreaming of the sunshine....

 

[journey11]

It makes me really sad because my dad had big plans for the farm and he wanted to build a log house on it and actually farm it. Then he was diagnosed with Parkinson's at age 45. He still has fun out there messing around with his tractor, but he lost the enthusiasm to really invest in the farm and now that he's 58, the disease has really begun to advance. If I do inherit the family farm, I really want to make him proud and do it up right.

If we are ever financially able, I'd like to propose to him to buy it from him while he is still living and set him up his own place beside us. He could still enjoy living there and enjoy the view and the grandkids. I don't know if he'll let me (or anyone) take care of him though when the time comes. He can be a real stubborn fella. Right now, he lives in town, but comes out on Saturdays to tinker around on the farm. There is an old house on the land, but it is well over 100 years old and not really inhabitable. I'd like to build a house up on the hill looking out over everything. My horse is out there and I drive 10 minutes down the road to take care of him.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Yes, good topic. My family, both sides for umpteen generations (dad's side came over from England in the mid-1700s, how many generations is that?!) all live and lived in Pennsylvania. Except my aunt and I, the black sheep, haha.

After college in PA, I had no idea what to do with myself. I was a "late bloomer" for sure! Moved back home with the fam for a few weeks...OHMYWORD. I can't live with them now that I'm a young 20something! Ended up getting a job with a place to live over the INTERNET in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Even now I boggle at myself and my audacity to pack up a station wagon, leave my dog with my parents and move almost all the way across the country. I needed a change in my life, and that was sure a big change!

Met a boy, boy said we should check out Montana after our summer jobs were over. Well, okay, why not! Here I still am, not with that boy

I may eventually have the opportunity to head to Florida, my mom recently bought a house there for winters! She loves it, a wonderful break from the dreary dark northern winters. I haven't even been to visit her yet, maybe this winter!

Journey, your family farm sounds great, I hope that it works out for you to get to farm it!

 

[Just-Moxie]

I am the gypsy in my family. My family hasn't moved further than 5 miles from our original home. Mama and dad were from different parts of KS and MO. I am the one that has moved to different states, and 2 years in Cuba in the early 80's. Now I am living in SC. I love the MO Ozarks, but not the cold and snow.

 

[Smart Red]

World traveler I am NOT! Mom and Dad drifted down from Oconto -- near Green Bay. Why they decided to nest here is a mystery. I was born in my current zip code (well before zips existed). Moved 8 times, all within 5 blocks of my first memories of a house. Spouse's family moved down from Black River when he was 4-5. How or why they stopped here is another mystery. They lived on the Rock River for 60+ years.

When we met, DH already had property in the country and plans to build a house 8 miles from the family home. I just made it happen a bit sooner than he'd expected. After a couple of years the house sold out from under us so we bought a duplex and moved into town -- kitty corner from a childhood house. There we stayed until we found another bit of land suitable for building. Now we are 10 miles from the Rock River and his mom's house is a riverside picnic area.

Except for a stint in the army, DH had always lived in this area. Except for a misspent year in my youth living on the West Coast, I've always lived in this area. No other family of mine is around here and spouse's family is nearly gone. We plan to stay here forever and the youngest two grands are both planning to inherit this place. That makes us second generation (53511 zip) settlers. Nothing exciting to see here!