Quote from Forum Archives on October 11, 2001, 8:34 pm

Posted by: empalo <empalo@...>

<<<<<<<Have you lived in a similar fashion throughout your married life or
did you change your lifestyle to a simpler one? >>>>>>>>>>

We started out simple, but then ended up moving to Southern California with my
husband being the highest paid executive with his job title in the county.
We had a big house built, had a pool. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, new cars, the
girls each had over 8o dresses in their closets, most from exclusive shops and
I was a well known customer of The Wooden Soldier in NH. We redecorated the
house 2 times a year. It was a very yuppie lifestyle. Not one either my husband
or I enjoyed really. We just lived it.
One day I asked my oldest daughter if she wanted a milky way candy bar, and she
said, "mother, I much prefer Godiva". I was shocked at how spoiled this child sounded.
Sure she took ballet from a russian ballerina and had been walked as a baby in a
huge English Pram, took Hebrew lessons from a private tutor, but the candy bar
just hit me. And my youngest daughter was following suit.
So we made a tough decision.
We told someone we are selling our house and taking to the woods. We decided on
Friday to sell our house, and by sundown Saturday, (good jews don't do business
on the sabbath) our house was sold. We paid any depts we had, bought a small
little country house in Oregon, sold one car, bought an old truck, and sold all
the extras.
So 11 years ago, we made a huge change. My husband took a job as a Janitor in
a local hospital. We gardened, we milked goats, we chopped wood, we chased
bears from our land, and we ate simple. We got rid of extra clothes. And felt happy.
One year later we sold our place in Oregon, made money on it, as it was a fixer upper
when we bought it, came to Texas, learned about Rod and Staff, started living like
plain people. My husband grew up in Kansas on a wheat farm, no electricity, no
running water, plain people all around them.
I grew up a spoiled Jewish child, never even washed a dish until the day I was married.
Dressed for diner, went to exclusive schools, never even had a pet. They are pretty
much prohibited in Chassid families, lots of porhabitions about caring for them on
shabbos.
So together, we got it all figured out, and once in a while a head hunter will call my husband
with some tempting job, but he remembers the stress, the money and what it does to you, and
he is happy to say no. He like his management job in the little nursing home 6 miles from home.
Life is full of changes !

Lovingly,
Pat