Crossing the 45th Parallel - Did You Feel That?

Kristie and I moved to Albany, Oregon in June 1978 to make our fortune with a car battery recycling franchise which we jointly purchased with Kristie's brother Erik.  During that summer we received the proceeds from my Idaho teacher retirement account that had accrued $2,200 during the five years I taught in Nampa, Idaho.  We determined the best use of this money was toward the purchase of a home, and so we spent all our free time between October and January looking at houses and considering purchase options.  It soon became apparent, however, that what we were able to afford was not very desirable.  The homes in our price range were in the worst part of town, needing major repairs, and were generally depressing.  We became anxious because home prices were going up and there was little hope of our increasing the amount we could make for a down payment.  Trying to find an affordable and suitable house was the focus of our prayers, conversation and most of our available time during that fall and winter.

On the third Saturday in January we drove to Portland to view a doll house exhibit at the World Forestry Center.  Kristie was expecting Bree and I remember thinking she needed a chance to get away and do something other than just get discouraged by looking at the available homes in our price range.   

Kristie and I were discussing our dilemma while driving up Interstate 5 toward Portland.  Just north of Salem as we were passing the sign designating the 45th parallel, Kristie made the comment, "Well, maybe we aren't supposed to buy a home now."  She no sooner made this statement then I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and an incredible reassurance of what she had said.  The feeling was so strong that I said, "Did you feel that?"; to which she replied, "Yes".

 

It is both remarkable and significant that Kristie and I jointly experienced this confirmation and overwhelming feeling of peace.  The immediate sense of calm, serenity, and reassurance was so different and completely opposite from the conundrum, apprehension and feeling of disequilibrium we had been experiencing for months.  In looking back, it seems that the reason we hadn't received an answer or reassurance to our prayers about purchasing a home was because we hadn't been asking the right question.  Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say that the uncertainty we had been feeling was the correct answer to the questions we had been asking. 

It is rather amazing that while it didn't make logical sense (after all housing costs would continue to increase while our financial resources decreased), Kristie and I never worried or spoke about trying to purchase a home for another six years; until it became apparent that her parents required assistance to deal with her father's Alzheimer's.  It is a credit to Kristie that she felt so responsible to help her parents in their time of need.  Our decision to jointly purchase a home to better assist them would change our family forever, and be harder than I ever imagined - but that is another story.