Race to get it done
JoAnne and I have been so busy preparing for this moving day that I have not been able to chronicle it as I wanted. Now it has come and gone so I have a little more time while we are between homes to think about it. We have been driving ourselves for weeks to thin out our material possessions and pack up the remaining ones. While we hired Fox Hollow Movers, the Syracuse affiliate of Allied Van Lines, to do the actual moving, we were to pack all the small stuff. But when you have lived at one location for 22 years, you accumulate a lot. Things come in a little at a time and very little goes out. We scrambled to empty attics—we had things stored in the church attic and in the garage loft—and systematically attempted to reduce our hoard of books by at least one-third. We gave away things privately, had a yard sale, donated to the Salvation Army, consigned things to antique dealers, and trashed and recycled mounds. The closer moving day was, the easier it was to part with things. The move helped bring the relative value of things into proper perspective.
Thank you to our friends
We could not have completed the task without much help from friends. Kim O’s neighbors, Steve and Sandy, adopted our cat. Ben Mackey brought us lots of boxes. John and Josiah Durfee came twice to help dig daylilies among other tasks. Jerry, Brad, John and Josiah helped me pack the garage on the day before the truck came. Shaun and Mark hauled junk away. And JoAnne had many helpers too, but especially Cindy, Donna, Kathy and Kim O. Eva sent food and Cindy sent food. Kim gave us a place to sleep and a great breakfast the last night. I’m sure I have forgotten someone, but my point is; we had so much great help and we are very thankful. We felt loved by the family of God through all the help that came.
God’s sustaining promises
It has been difficult to leave. It brought tears when I closed the door of the house for the last time, a symbol of the deeper stresses of the move. One day as I was running one of the many errands, I stopped at Sacred Melody (Parable) bookstore for something and as I looked up at the display above and in back of the counter, there was a plaque with this verse. “You will go out with joy and be led forth with peace (Isa. 55:12 NASB). I knew the message was meant for me and it was an elevator for my spirit that day. Indeed it has proven very true in so many ways. Even the peace lily in the kitchen bloomed on the last day we were there.
Moving Day long but successful
The truck and burly crew of four pulled in about 9:30 AM. They set to work on the garage and then the office. The leader cataloged everything and helped lift only when he was needed as he was busy writing and directing. The other three packed the truck steadily. JoAnne and I joked with them and prayed for them as the day progressed. JoAnne was on the phone with Joyce as the crew was having trouble getting the piano out. JoAnne and Joyce prayed and JoAnne let the crew know they had done so; just then the piano cleared the obstacle. We ordered pizza for lunch and had grace with the crew before eating all together. For supper, Cindy brought hot beef stew and I picked up subs so we said grace again and had supper together also. The office told the crew to finish it all in one day even though it was estimated at a day and one half work for a crew. One extra man came to help in mid-afternoon. The whole job didn’t wrap up until nearly 9 PM. It was an exhausting day, but all our goods were on that truck. The house looked so different. We had planned and worked to make it happen and now the first big step had been taken.
Off to CT
The next morning, after a great breakfast at Kim’s, it was back to the house to pack the two cars. The moving company could not take my daylilies on the truck because of NYS rules, so I had to make other plans. I chopped them into smaller sections and took a sample of most of them in the trunk of the Buick to plant later. Then I planted three more at Kim’s house and gave lots of samples away too. The plan worked but it took up much of the Buick trunk space. This meant I had to really be a good packer with the remaining space. But everything fit in. Kim helped me label all the keys. After prayer with Kim and greetings to Sue next door, we were off, JoAnne followed me in her new-to-us 2010 Honda Civic while I led the way in my Buick road-eater, as I call it. All went very smooth except for one scary merge into the halfway point rest stop outside Albany. JoAnne had a hard time getting across traffic but she made it. The rest of the way went well. Nearing West Hartford, I found the short-cut to Mark and Keely’s that I had been looking for too, cutting off 5 minutes more from the expected Grandma commute. Thank you for your prayers for the journey. Mark and Keely and Sam welcomed us with hugs and kisses and JoAnne checked in with Kim. We were soon tucked in bed in Connecticut. One half of the move was complete.