Why Susanville?

We're so close to being able to see our dream of being homeowners realized, and I can't wait for it to happen. Even though I don't know what house we're planning on buying, I'm already looking at paint and trying to get ideas of how I want to make our house a home. I'm also looking forward to just being alone with my husband.

I was talking about this with a coworker the other day and she couldn't understand why I would want to live here the rest of my life. She's from the bay area, and this is just a pit stop for her. She wanted to know why I wasn't anxious to go out and see the word. I figure that's what vacations are for! I told her just because I live in Susanville doesn't mean that I can't still travel! There are still roads that lead out of this place! I know that Susanville is a small town, and does not hold a lot of opportunity for young people. Jeff and I were lucky and just happened to fall into jobs that were right for us.

It's not that we have this burning desire to live in Susanville, we have a burning desire to live close to the ones we love. Jeff and I will have a family one day, and we want those children to truly know where they came from, and where their parents came from. It's important to us that our parents can actually be grandparents to our children, and have active roles in their lives. Jeff and I were lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents living close by.


My grandparents were able to come to all of my Christmas plays, and they were there when I went trick - or - treating, and hunted Easter eggs, they came to every birthday I had. Even now, when I'm well into my 20's and newly married, my Grandma Cannon stopped by my work on Valentines day to give me a hug and a card. I truly cherish these moments. It doesn't even have to be on a major holiday. Before we moved in with Jeff's parents, we would go over for dinner, or Jeff and his dad would sit outside and have a few beers and smoke a cigar. There are so many things that we would miss if we lived somewhere else.

If we stay in Susanville, our children will have the opportunity to really know not just their grandparents, but their aunts and uncles and cousins. The things I remember most from my childhood are the times when I was surrounded by these people. Jeff and I have been blessed with a large extended family and we don't want our children to ever feel like they don't know where they came from.

I understand people who decide to leave and go make a life for themselves. I always thought that would be me one day, but as the years go by, and we lose a family member, or someone gets sick, I remember why we are staying in Susanville. To be close to the people that matter the most.




Me and Granny Easter Sunday.
Jeff and his dad smoking a stogie.