Testimony: Zach Pflederer; Sunday, September 20, 2015

When Elise and I got married, we had no plans to be in Chicago 7 years later. We thought we were going to move to New Mexico, and I thought I was going to be a career teacher. Instead, we wound up in central Illinois.The transition to life in rural Illinois was a hard one. It took us 8 months to make any friends. Just as the school year was winding down and I knew I was going to be laid off, we found our people in a little church in Peoria and finally were part of a community. For 5 years we put down roots. I had a lot of trouble finding a decent job in the area, so last year we finally decided to move away so I could start a new career.It was hard to imagine leaving our friends behind. It was scary to put all of our eggs in this basket when the only safety net was literally moving back in with our parents...which we ended up doing anyway, for a few months. On the other hand it was not such a hard decision, because we didn't really have any other ideas. It's easier to accept change when you don't have much of a choice.It was an adventure that was mostly exciting and sometimes terrifying, but here we are now. There have been great things about it; living in this fantastic city, working at a job I love, Elise getting to stay home with Ellowyn. There have been expected challenges; uprooting and starting over in a new place is never easy. There have been unexpected challenges, as well. Elise and I used to work together. Our days were remarkably similar. When work was good, we both had good days. When work was bad, we bitched about the same customers to each other. Now our days are pretty different, and we can't automatically relate to each others' experiences like we used to. (I realize this is normal life for most couples, but we had to get used to it.)In Peoria, I defined myself partly by the things I did and the people I spent time with. I was Zach the waiter and church-music-leader. Now I'm neither of those things. For about a year, I spent just about every free moment teaching myself to code so I could start a new career. Now that I've started it, I kind of feel like, "Now what?" I had a really clearly defined story for a long time--and now that story's over and I feel like a character at the end of a book before the sequel is written. What's my story about now?I'm the same person, but in a new context in which I don't know exactly how I fit. This has all been somewhat unexpected, and I have conflicting feelings about it. It's uncomfortable to re-figure out what I'm about, but it's also an interesting opportunity to learn a little more about myself. It's also somewhat liberating to be able to reevaluate what kind of person I want to be. Zach the...what? I don't exactly know yet, but I'm looking forward to the discovery.