How Donley Johnson (and Parents!) Arrived in Vermont in 2008

By Donley's mother, Abby Johnson:

Donley in the garden, summer 2011

Our family recently transplanted to the Northeast Kingdom. We are originally from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where Carl and I were living until the summer of 2008.

Carl has always loved Vermont, and had a chance to live here during the year 2005–2006 when he studied at the University of Vermont (UVM). He found a master’s program there that perfectly matched his interest in teaching the middle grades. He returned to Cleveland after that year of school and worked in the city at a charter school that closed at the end of the school year.

Donley and his mother Abby, making challah

We had dreamed of someday living in a more rural area and having a bit of land, so he started to search for jobs in rural districts, in both Ohio and Vermont. We figured we’d land wherever his job took us. I was pregnant with Donley and working full time in the arts and nonprofit sector. Although at first I thought I would want to return to that job, the closer we got to the due date, the more I wanted to stay home with the baby. So, that meant going where Carl’s job took us.

When Carl was offered a job in Gilman, Vermont, at a tiny middle school, we came for a visit to the area. We checked out the birth center at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) and loved how small and personal it was compared to the big hospitals in Cleveland. In St. Johnsbury, we visited Catamount Arts, and attended Shabbat services at Beth El Synagogue. It was truly amazing to me that this tiny synagogue existed, and that it had a multifaceted membership.  I liked that it was primarily lay-led and that there was a Hebrew School. St. Johnsbury seemed to have just enough to offer our soon-to-be growing family. So we took the leap and moved, a month before Donley was born.

The Johnson home, in autumn

We found a great community of other young families and felt quickly at home. Now we are in our fourth year here. I’ve been working for Beth El part-time as their administrative assistant for two and half years; the perfect job for a stay-at-home mom. The synagogue is a 10-minute drive from our house. We bought a fixer-upper on a beautiful piece of land outside of St. Johnsbury last year. We’ve got a few chickens and turkeys, a large garden, and hiking trails right outside our door. This is living the dream!