The packers, who are amazing, are done. We’ve never before had a move that didn’t take two full days, but these people are the definition of efficiency. So tomorrow everything will get loaded, and we’ll be a day ahead of schedule. Yay for that!
This is turning out, by far, to be the easiest move we’ve ever made. Our worst, was when we went from New Mexico to Arizona. I often borrow from reality when writing, and when Anika talks about her Dad losing his job because a contract wasn’t renewed… yep, that happened to us. Brad was laid off work. Fortunately Emily, my equivalent of Doreen, didn’t have an undiagnosed illness, nor was our family separated, or out of work for long. But Brad’s new job did require moving one state over to a city we never would’ve chosen to move to, given a reasonable alternative. The people are nice there, but it isn’t where we wanted to be.
It quickly became ridiculous all of the things that happened to complicate that move. As if losing a job wasn’t bad enough! Maxim, my cat of about sixteen years, died. That was horrible. The new little cat we got, Star (of Stonecastle Inn) had ringworm, and shared. We were trying to prepare our house for sale, and one of the metal gateposts to the backyard rusted right through, so when Brad went to shut the gate, the whole thing just fell over. I don’t remember everything else, but there was a lot. I guess the worst though, was slamming my hand in the car door at a rest stop halfway there. Several of my fingers were crushed. I had no idea something like that could put you in shock, but I was feeling faint, seeing stars, almost threw up more than once, and all while driving because for goodness sake, what else was I going to do? Live out the remainder of my life at that rest stop? Brad had his truck to drive, Emily was too young to be of any help in that situation, and while Indy was trained as a Diabetic Alert Dog service dog, that didn’t extend to driver’s ed. So I drove the rest of the way with crushed and bleeding fingers, while poor Em quavered now and then from the back seat, “are you going to die?” No, child. No matter how badly I want to right now, I’m afraid I’m going to make it.
And I did. We all did. To the apartment complex that looked great online, but up close… Brad deemed it the equivalent of a crack house. Having never been to one, I can’t speak on that personally, but considering how many crime TV shows he’s watched, I suppose he would know. Anyway, it was awful. Like I’m still shuddering, kind of awful.
But I’m trying to make the best of it. Gotta stay strong, pull this crew through, move in boxes in spite of it, because where else are we going to go at this time of night? Then my shoulder succumbed to something, my doctor calls it bursitis, but when that happens it feels as though it’s out of joint. And that hurts! Constantly! No matter what. So I’ve got crushed fingers on my left hand, and my right arm is useless. And the more I looked around that horrible place, and realized I couldn’t even clean it, and I thought of Maxim dying, and the ringworm, and my fingers, shoulder, Brad losing his job, having to leave our beautiful home (with an upside down mortgage to boot) for THAT–I finally started to cry. I was done. I remember wailing “how in the world is God going to bring good out of this?” So Brad loaded us all in one vehicle, we went somewhere and ate, and he found a really nice hotel that didn’t mind the cats. Indy wasn’t an issue, being an active service dog. Then the next day he told the complex in no uncertain terms that they were refunding our deposit. He used his Mighty Voice, and they said yes sir, and did it. Then we found a house. It was clean, new, and in a good neighborhood.
So after signing the lease, we were walking through this empty house, and I was thinking how horrible things had been and how different they now were. I still had crushed fingers and a bum shoulder, there was no miraculous healing there. But the new job increased Brad’s pay unbelievably. We were in a house that was actually nicer than the one we owned in New Mexico. And the place was clean. So I was standing in the master bedroom, looking around, and thinking wow. Good came out of all that. Even my physical afflictions, because if it weren’t for those, I would’ve cleaned that horrid place and made it work somehow. But I couldn’t, so I gave up, and Brad took over, and everything got better.
I stood there looking around though, and I was praying inside. I remember saying, how in the world did You do that? And then I saw the vinyl sticker on the door. It said “with God all things are possible.”
And that, was so cool. It was one of those moments.
So it all worked out after all, and I learned a powerful lesson from that experience. Ever since that dreadful trip, I pay very close attention to where my hands are when near an open car door!
I’m thankful for the ease of this move, and the fact that I actually got to WRITE today! “Terms” is on page 392. It’s getting there. I’m hopeful that while the movers are loading everything tomorrow, I’ll be able to write some more.
In the meantime, happy reading!