Hi Brad,
What really bugs me is that it isn't the economy which made my husband lose his job; it's dirty and ugly politics. This university is doing quite well and will hire a replacement for him immediately.
Yes, we've thought about the not-moving thing, but it's not very simple. First, we are in a fairly small town with very few opportunities for well-educated employees. David could possibly teach high school, but it doesn't pay very well and we would lose the free tuition for our kids. We don't owe our younger two kids free college, but paying for it was something neither we nor they were able to prepare for.
On the day he found out about this, David looked at me and said tearfully, "Teaching is all I ever wanted to do." He's really good at it and loves it. He doesn't want anything else.
We have several months to look at options and consider what to do. There is a possibility I could get a full-time job, but quite frankly I really don't want to and David wouldn't be happy doing some part-time thing while I worked full-time. It's not what he wants. In any case, I'm also too well-educated for this small town; there aren't many positions here for people with an MS in Biophysics, though I could always do something I'm overqualified for. I also have an MA in Christian Spirituality. I do some freelance work with that, but could consider a full-time church position, though honestly the thought doesn't really excite me.
And I know we don't all get to do what we want or what excites us. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do and live with it. Still, it's tough to look at the fact that David and I are both very happy where we are and it's likely neither of us will be able to stay.
Absorbing those positive vibes,
Karen
