Moving Day

Long distance moves may be familiar to many, but not to this family. I’ve moved twice, never leaving Maryland. The first time was when I left home and moved into a house I bought with my brother (which I later bought from him); second time was after marriage and the birth of my two sons, when we decided we needed a bigger house, which is where I live today.

Calvin’s new job came with a relocation package, so there was probably a bit less stress than typical with this long distance move, simply because everything was handled by Microsoft. Both Calvin and Vicki’s furniture and Vicki’s car were all included in the move. Everything was packed for them as well. We just had to have Vicki’s car and furniture at our house before packing day, which also happened to be car pick-up day. A separate special crew came to pack Calvin’s big screen TV. Nothing was left to chance. Even boxes the kids had packed were repacked by the movers.

The moving van arrived the next day right on time. Now earlier in the week, Calvin had mentioned to me how exciting it would be to see that big truck pull up in front of the house. I had been weathering the emotional storm quite well until suddenly that moment. The tears came and I simply said, “No, it won’t”. But I really don’t believe that. This is what is supposed to happen. They are supposed to take flight.

It actually was exciting to see that big truck pull up in front of the house, however there was a momentary blur of tears—call it a coping mechanism. The driver and his helper, who turned out to be his nephew, were from Wisconsin and Calvin and Vicki were his first load. The process went smoothly with the driver expecting to head west Sunday after picking up a couple more loads. It was one thing to watch the moving van pull up to the house, but I didn’t want to be there to watch it pull away. I had taken a half day from work and it was time to get to the office. After saying “Thank you” and “Safe travels” to driver Dave, I left for work—call it a coping mechanism.