Completely understood -- I had the opposite situation. Had a major career opportunity, interviewed for a 4-level promotion from mid-level peon to senior manager. And it was a good setup, unlikely to fail even with that big a jump.
But the job was in CT, and 3 hrs was too far away from my wife's family in the Philly suburbs. (Never mind that we live the same distance from my family, and that her brother spent 5 yrs in Michigan with no issues.)
So here we stayed. No regrets, I'd rather have her than that job.
But we did talk about it -- I gave her a list of places where my employer might someday force me to move, and in that situation maybe the distance to CT wasn't quite so intolerable.