Downgrade to Upgrade

I decided to move back from Florida in 2019. We lasted 8 months in the Sunshine State. When we moved back, we moved back into a 2 bedroom loft apartment. It sounded fancy but I knew it would be uncomfortable. We always lived in a house with 3-4 bedrooms with a garage and private parking. We went from that to a 3rd-floor apartment with no garage, loud neighbors, and basically no privacy.

My office was in my bedroom and my son’s bedroom was in the loft space. Whatever I cooked, went straight into his room. He had absolutely no privacy. Heats rises so his “room” was always hot. We rented a storage space to store all of our belongings that didn’t fit in the apartment. So most of the time, we were missing something we thought we wouldn’t need. My kids had to carry up their bikes into the apartment if they rode it out in the neighborhood. Granted, we were in a safe place but it was a huge downgrade for us as a family (living space-wise).

But I knew, as a mother that I would need to move into the same neighborhood we were in when we left so that our Kids could fall back seamlessly into the school district since we moved during the school year. We moved back to New Jersey on March 1st and it was freezing. We literally went from shorts and sweating loading up the truck to moving back home in 88° to 34° and snow. My husband and I had been through so much, our marriage and finances were paralleling each other and we were struggling in Florida. I had to come back home so we could improve our financial situation and be able to focus on ourselves again.

As parents, sometimes we need to prioritize money over everything because this economic climate does not give us the luxury to ensure mental health or health, in general, is addressed accordingly. So we had to secure the money bag and reset our lives completely.

Thank goodness we did so, we went from being broke to planning a wedding vow renewal in 2020. The pandemic dented the celebration as it never happened but we instead used the funds to buy a new home. A home where we already have seen our kids go off to high school, get into their first boyfriends and girlfriend relationships, learn to drive, go to prom and homecomings. We have spent 3 Christmases, sang Happy Birthday, and shared meals and laughs with neighbors, family, friends, and our mini-unit.

The setback and temporary downgrades gave us the biggest upgrade of our lives.

It will forever keep us humble and grateful.

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