Back to Florida
After only a short time in Chicago, I received a surprise phone call. I was offered an engineering contract that I couldn’t turn down. Julia was in the middle of an internship in Chicago, so in the summer of 2018, I moved down to Jacksonville, FL to start my new job. For the next 3 months, we only saw each other on the weekends. As you can imagine, this was a big challenge, but we made it through. And, Jacksonville was going to be a place of surprise.
Surprise Connection with Friends
Julia and I had hopes that we would make some friends in Jacksonville. Chicago had been marvelous with the great architecture and beautiful churches, but we didn’t know very many people. As a result, we got pretty lonely. A lot of friends from Gainesville, where we met, had moved to Jacksonville after college. We were hopeful we would reconnect with some of them. This was exactly what happened!
There were some friendships that seemed to pick right back up where they left off, but the bigger surprise was the making of new friends. There was one couple that had been in Gainesville with us, but Julia and I had never really had a chance to connect with. We started talking with them in Jacksonville, and we hit it off. Over the next year, we pushed each other to become the best Catholics we could possibly be. It was a time of extreme spiritual growth for us. Julia and I are extremely thankful for our friends in Jacksonville, and still meet up with them every time we are in the area.
Beautiful Basilica
In downtown Jacksonville, there is a beautiful basilica, The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. We absolutely love this church, and still visit it when we’re in town. During our time in Jacksonville, we were lucky enough to have my parents come for Easter, and we all celebrated at the basilica. It was wonderful sharing the church with them.
What a Surprise
After my year long contract in Jacksonville, it was time to find the next job. I was offered a position back in Naples, FL. Once again, Julia was right in the middle of an internship, so we had to do another month of seeing each other only on the weekends. One of the weekends, I drove back to Jacksonville, and went into the bathroom and saw a big surprise!
This was a dream come true! I’ve wanted kids since I was a little boy. At the age of 4, I was talking about my future wife and kids. As Catholics, we just left conception up to God. We don’t believe in using contraception, but also chose to not actively try. This, in our eyes, was a true gift from God. As the baby grew inside Julia, she moved down to Naples and we got ready for the arrival of the bay.
Back to Ohio
As it got closer to the birth, it became apparent that with our first child, we could use some help. I was able to become a remote employee, and we moved back to Ohio in the fall of 2019 to be close to my family. We are very happy we made this choice as 2020 was right around the corner. No one knew what was about to come.