Goodbye, Illinois

To all my friends in Illinois, good-bye. I have accepted an offer of employment from a company in Texas, and will shortly be leaving the state behind.

When he left Illinois for Washington, D.C. in 1860, President-elect Abraham Lincoln had these words to say: "Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell."

I grew up in Illinois, from before my first birthday nearly until my sixteenth. When I returned nine years ago, it was with a delight of which I have seldom spoken. Illinois has charms and gifts that are rarely remarked and even more rarely appreciated.

But this beautiful state is oppressed beneath the weight of a political system that holds no regulation to be too onerous, no tax to be too high, and no virtue worth troubling about. This political regime has led, predictably and inexorably, to an economic depression with no end in sight. As other neighboring states pull their economies up by their own bootstraps, more and more businesses and citizens opt to "shrug": they close up shop, sometimes permanently, sometimes to cross the border into neighboring states, sometimes to go, willingly or not, on the public dole, to become the beneficiaries of the programs for the maintenance of which they were taxed and regulated into penury.

As I became aware of this state of affairs, I began to involve myself, seeking to be more part of the solution than part of the problem. I soon found myself working alongside many good people -- most of whom had, like me, only lately become activated to get involved.

Now I am returning to Texas, whence I came. I am taking up a job as a programmer with a growing company in Carrollton, Texas.

To the friends I have made in Illinois through my political endeavors, we have worked together to try to improve our communities and our state against tremendous odds. I hope my participation contributed to making a difference, just as I hope that you will carry on with it. I am very proud of the work we did.

To all the friends I am leaving, including those I have gained through religious, leisure and other activities, I hope we can keep in touch. I may not have often expressed my sentiment, but I have always been grateful for your many kindnesses and your friendships, and I will miss you.

I leave with regret for leaving so much incomplete, and for leaving so many good people. But I go knowing that in the place I am returning to, I already have many friends, and many more to be made, and work to be done there to which I can apply the lessons I learned here.

I am leaving because I could not find work enough to sustain my family here, and I have found it there. And so it is with very mixed feelings that Karie & and I say goodbye to our Illinois friends, and hello again to our Texas friends.

I close with these words of Davy Crockett: "I must say as to what I have seen of Texas, it is the garden spot of the world. The best land & best prospects for health I ever saw is here, and I do believe it is a fortune to any man to come here. There is a world of country to settle."