This I Believe

Growing up in a small farming community I wanted to marry a farmer and stay right close to
where I was raised. At the age of 21 I had married a wonderful man who was a neighbor and was just
starting his own farming career, I was on my way to exactly what I thought I had wanted. We were living
close to both our parents and some of our siblings. We ate meals with family, watched shows with
them, and even did our grocery shopping with them. I was sure this was the key to my family’s
happiness.

2 years into our perfect marriage my husband Teague came home to say he did not feel he could
support his family the way he would like to as a farmer. I saw my perfect world cracking and crumbling
right before my eyes. He was talking of going away to get an education in another field of work and who
knows if that work would bring us back to the area and extended family that was so important to me.

Moving my family of 4 was hard. We had 2 young boys that loved to visit grandma and
Grandpa, but to be honest it was scary because I had never lived out of the area or away from family.
Teague had decided to pursue an education to become an electrician, which took us to Idaho Falls. In
Idaho Falls we lived in a quiet neighborhood with parks and the zoo within walking distance. We started
to make friends with those we lived by and went to church with. We had many things to celebrate. We
welcomed 2 more boys and a daughter into our home and Teague become a Journeyman Electrician.
On top of this our three little boys all started school and I was busy chasing after our youngest that just
learned the new skill of riding a bike with 2 wheels.

It was when I was living away from my parents that I learned to rely on Teague and he learned
to rely on me. I learned to cook frugal meals. We would find ways to date without the expense of a
babysitter. This was the first time in my life that I could choose if I went to church or not without feeling
judged by my parents. We had to decide as a family what was important to us. As Teague and I both
were raised on farms we had not had the opportunity to camp as children. That was the busy time of
year. It was when the water needed changed and the crops needed sprayed or cultivated. Now we
could camp and we fell in love with it! All these things that we learned to love and leaned about
ourselves would not have been possible had we stayed in our hometown around family.
 It is my belief that young couples should move away from other family for a time. It is during
this time that we learned who we were and how we wanted to go through life. It is a time of self-
discovery and maturity and I know my family is better because of this.