Taking the Scenic Route

My husband and I will have our 5th anniversary this February. Quite a lot has happened in that time. Events over the past few months placed us facing the exact same choices that we faced us five years ago.
When we decided to get married one of the many decisions we had to make was one involving where we would live. Our choices were:
1. My family could move in with him. He was living in the same place he had with his ex-wife. The property was beautiful but a lot of work. The house was old and shabby. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to live with the memories involved.
2. He could move in with me. I had recently moved into an almost new place out in the country. I loved the house and really didn’t want to move my whole family again. The location wasn’t the best but no memories existed.
3. We could have found a new place but he was on the road and I worked two jobs. We weren’t that interested in looking.
We chose door #2. So, he moved in the newer house with my family. His parents moved into his place. Things didn’t work out there so we moved two months later to a completely different place. And then another place and another place and another place until we are now at the shabby little place on the farm!
The other choices facing us had to do with his job. His choices at the time were:
1. He could keep his own truck business contracting out as an owner-operator. This would have him home weekends.
2. He could park his old truck and drive for someone else doing long-haul. This would have him home never.
3. He could haul locally for one of the big food industries in our area. This would have him home every night.
4. He could get a non trucking related job.
We chose door #1. When that became impossible, we tried options #2 and #4. He is now doing #3.
We joke with our friends and family that it’s a good indication of how bad the last 5 years have been to make this house look damn good to me and that job look damn good to him. One friend’s take on it is that we took the scenic route to get here. And that is the point of my story.
At one time or another most of us do take the scenic route. It is usually much longer than the freeway. The roads are bumpy and rough. There are sharp curves to contend with. The speed limits are slower. You have to stop for pedestrians, dogs, balls, etc. You have to keep a lookout for speed traps and school zones. It can seem that you will never get there.
But along the road are views and experiences that can take your breath away. You meet people that you might never have met. You sample food that you might never have tried. You’ve learned things that you could only learn on the slow, scenic route. Eventually you reach your destination- pocket poor but experience rich. And I have begun to wonder if perhaps that was the real plan after all!
That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?