For those of you who know me here, you know that I am a veteran of Afghanistan, a surgeon, currently serving on active duty in US Navy. However, my time on active duty is coming to an end, and thus begins our story....
I grew up on my grandparents' tobacco farm in middle Tennessee, near the Kentucky border. My grandparents were in their early 70s by the time I came along. Being the youngest grandchild certainly had its pros and cons, but, honestly, I couldn't have ask for a better childhood. Summer days were spent romping through the nearby woods and creeks, or spent assisting in the annual tobacco crop. One of the many things I am thankful for are the life lessons passed down to me from my grandparents. You see, in their early marriage, they were dirt poor share croppers. They worked someone else's land, in exchange for a meager earning. My uncles used to tell me stories about watching the chickens underneath the house through the floorboards and having to stuff newspaper in the walls to keep snow out in the winter. After many years of struggling, my grandfather bought his own land and eventually opened a community grocery. Unlike most stores in that era, my grandfather refused to enforce Jim Crow laws. When he was a sharecropper, he had worked fields with people of all races, his best friend was a black farmer who lived a couple farms over; how could he turn his back on that?
Needless to say, my grandparents were Roosevelt Democrats and that left an indelible impact on my early life. They lived their lives with humility and integrity.
Unfortunately, it took several years to fully appreciate the lessons they taught me. After toying with libertarianism and the young GOP, in college I finally accepted my own beliefs as a liberal with open arms. As crazy as that may sound, I assure you that in some circles being a self identified liberal is the equivalent of a social pariah. Nevertheless, most people I meet immediately think given my background that I must regularly tune in to Rush Limbaugh. I drive a truck, I love football and baseball, i love the outdoors and camping and I'm a music lover: country, rock, hillbilly, roots, blues, rockabilly, soul, Stax and Memphis sound....you name it. I'm not what most would stereotype as the poster child for progressives, at least based on appearances.
College, medical school, and residency were all spent in Tennessee. After starting active duty with the Navy, I merely moved down I-40 to the North Carolina coast. My wife is from Louisiana, the liberal child of fairly conservative parents. I love them, they are more
Goldwater Republican than teatard, but I still avoid political conversations. They know where I stand and I know where they stand and it keeps the peace to avoid discussions.
I've lived in the south my whole life, but there's another part of the country I adore. I've been fascinated by the New England area since I first read "Walden", one of my favorite books. My wife and I honeymooned in Boston and Cape Cod. We travel to the New England area regularly, so much that it's become an adopted home.
We've been here in NC for nearly five years now, except for the seven months I spent in the Afghan desert, and now the time has come to transition from the military.
As a surgeon, I'm blessed that I have a plethora of options to choose from and we currently have serveral offers on the table. Our family wants us close to home, and I can truly appreciate that but I'm not sure I'm willing to raise my children in the current atmosphere of the South, the Friday night lights, the religious blinders, the intolerance of any beliefs outside of Fox News talking points...I just don't think we can do it.
Our big choice is between a job in Louisiana, very close to my in-laws, making a significant amount of money working for the devil of healthcare himself HCA and a job in Rhode Island, working for a community hospital who is developing a community general surgery training program with a well respected hospital based in Boston. The RI job offers less money but an incredible opportunity in an area of the country that my wife and I love, where we could raise our kids, but would have no close family support.
So I come to the crux of this diary...where should we go? Personally, I'm ready for a new challenge...ready to sign with RI. I think my grandparents would approve...