So where does that bring us to today? We’ve been in our new location for about 4 ½ years. In our first full year with Bernina we were nominated as one of the top 3 Rookies of the Year. The next year we were District Dealer of the Year with Bernina, which covers most of the West Coast. I started travelling more to help teach new dealers for Bernina in Chicago. Things were getting crazy busy.

In the meantime, my 3 boys were growing up. When we moved to this new location they were 14, 11, and 6. Now they’re 18, 15, and 11. Our oldest boy was having emotional problems and needed to live in a group home. Our other two boys were growing up fast, and I was missing out on much of this. Neff and I, on a much needed vacation, talked about it and figured we were each working over 100 hours a week. The boys were helping out at the shop, so at least we were together, but we knew a change was needed. I knew I needed a change, not just for the family, but for me.

Keegan was at a private school here locally, found that he loved theater, but not the drama. As a Mom, I hate to see my kids unhappy and struggling! I would do anything to avoid that for them. After a particularly rough week of giving out what seemed like non-stop advice, counseling, and strategy sessions I finally just asked him, “What do YOU want”. I was shocked that he had such clarity! He knows who he is, what kind of environment he thrives the best in, what he would like to do to help others, where he wants to go to college….and the thing that impressed me the most was how simple a choice it was for him to make major changes in his life to make those things happen and be HAPPY! I learned from him that day that just because you are doing what you have done for awhile or thought you would do forever it doesn’t mean you can’t decide to do something else if you are not completely fulfilled. We only have one life…in the end will we be happy with how we lived it? If not, I encourage you to be brave and make a change. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith…