Flip Your Life

At age 57 and living in my hometown for 20 years, I quit my job and moved from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California.

I had a good life in Nebraska. (like the state motto says, ‘Nebraska, The Good Life’)

I enjoyed my job and was a senior member in the KETV newsroom, the number one station in the market. Living and working in my hometown, l built up a robust network of contacts to succeed at my job as an investigative reporter. I had a large and diverse group of friends. I am still close to a group of women that I have known since I was 12 years old. You should see the group text messages!  I also made friends in the Omaha triathlon community and I had my work family. I also had the rewarding experience every summer of watching hundreds of girls of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds become triathletes with the non-profit I co-founded with Erin Sullivan, the Ironhawk Juniors Triathlon Club.

Why leave? Omaha is a growing city, making progressive changes and the cost of living is low.

I needed a change. After I lost both my parents. My 89-year-old mother died of Alzheimer’s in 2016 and my father passed away peacefully at age 97 in early 2021. I stayed in Omaha to be close to them and help them in the final years of their lives. It’s a decision I will never regret. I know they enjoyed watching their daughter on TV every night. However, after having lived in Southern California and South Texas before moving back home in 2002, I knew I wanted to be in warmer weather.

Hearst Television, the company that owns KETV, also owns KCRA in Sacramento. The former general manager of KETV moved to KCRA and I respect Ariel Roblin’s leadership and dedication to journalism, the community and her employees.

I’m not going to lie. It’s been difficult to move at this stage in life to a place where it is so expensive to live and make ends meet. I get lonely.  I get sad. But I also had bouts of loneliness and sadness living in Omaha, surrounded by a large and diverse group of friends.

However, I am making new memories and experiences. I am seeing beautiful areas of the country, that are on people’s buckets lists. Vacations spots for many that are an hour or two from my front door. I think if I stayed in Omaha, didn’t take a chance, I would have always wondered. I may have flipped my life but I haven’t flipped my dreams or goals. The group chats continue. I fly to Omaha to help the Ironhawk Juniors cross the finish line. I can continue to carry my good life from Nebraska to California, all while not freezing my ass off.