In the spring of 1986, Marge and I had a home in Carver, Mass. which was a 45 minute car drive to work each way for me. Upon review of our taxes, it was determined that we needed to purchase a better home or have Marge quit working. We decided to look for another home closer to work. One day at lunch hour, I met with a realtor and looked at several homes. When I got back, I had an urgent message to call Marge. Marge proceeded to tell me that she signed a contract to buy a home in Marshfield (this from a woman who hated to spend money) and that she had called her mother for the downpayment until I could cash out my savings. Obviously, this was the home of her dreams!
We moved into our new home in May of 1986. Shortly thereafter, I got a call from a headhunter with a possible job position with Frito-Lay. I interviewed in Dallas and then in Topeka and was offered the position of Distribution Manager in Topeka. Marge and I had lengthy discussions and decided to accept the job. I offered my resignation to my boss but it wasn't accepted because something was happening to the company. It turned out the company was being sold and my VP came out and personnally congratulated me.
While Marge and Bret stayed home, I started my job with Frito-Lay. This was at a time when housing interest rates were over 10% and it was very difficult to find a home but we were able to take over another transferred Frito-Lay manager's home. In September, Marge came out to go house hunting with me. On the way to Topeka from KC airport in the fall with brown grass and few trees, Marge looked at me very seriously and said "Can we please go back!".
Needless to say, we are still in Topeka (and we love it) and our son now lives in Boston area.