Between myself and my mother, seven wonderful friends, pick-up trucks, two days with a cargo van, one day with a U-Haul box towed on the back of a truck, a Toyota Corolla, a Volvo, dollies, rolling carts and a lot of sweat and muscle…we have managed to move the majority of our two bedroom apartment that we have lived in for eight years.
This has been no small feat when you consider that my mother has severe arthritis, is over the age of 65 and had a bad knee replacement last year that still incapacitates her to this day. It also has been a monumental task because I am suffering from a severe case of Chronic Lyme Disease that kept me bedridden from January until August this year with a PICC line in my arm for most of the year receiving IV antibiotics at home. I wasn’t even able to drive a car until October of this year and only for small trips in the neighborhood.
We really didn’t know how we were going to accomplish this move in the first place. Our friends have been simply AMAZING and we don’t know how we will ever thank them enough for all that they have done. In years past, every time that people have said, “Oh you’re moving eh? We will help you!” We have only had a few people who have turned up on their promised days and stood by our side through thick and thin to cart all of our junk to our new home. We have never forgotten their loyalty.
This year, our former “tried and true” moving friends had traveled out of town for the Christmas holiday so we really didn’t know how we were going to make this move happen. We were filled with utter trepidation that we would be let down this year and this move was going to blow up in our faces. We were so wrong! This new crew has done more than we could have ever imagined and we are beyond grateful. Here are some photos to show you what has transpired over the past six days.
When you are down and out, and you think that you are living a life of suffering all alone, never forget that there ARE people that are struggling through your path right beside you. Our eyes have been opened to the fact that our circle of friends who love us to the core is much bigger than we ever expected.
So, the professional moving company is coming on Monday to move all of the large furniture because we didn’t think it was fair to ask our friends to hurt themselves lifting all of the super heavy items. They will come with all of their thick blankets and plastic wrapping to safely transport the couch, recliner, dressers, loveseat (which has been my “bed” for the past few weeks), the large lateral filing cabinet, the curio cabinet that stores my mother’s snow globe collection, the washer and dryer, and any other miscellaneous items that we may have forgotten at that time. We have used them before so we have the ultimate trust that they will do a good job with our remaining items.
The end is near for our major move which has been in the works for the past few months and I cannot be more grateful at this point. Each time I make a trip to the new apartment I am more and more pleased with our decision to move to this complex. It is quiet, safe, clean, the tenants we have met all seem to be pleasant to us when we pull in with our large vehicles blocking their access to the roads and they have welcomed us with smiles and abundant patience. I feel like this is becoming our new home and it seems like we will be happy here.
I only hope that as we begin to unpack our boxes in this new home that we find our decision has been a good one. It was so heart breaking to leave our last apartment where we lived for eight years and had a beautiful view of the St. John’s River but when it became so painful to write that exorbitant rent check every month and we wondered if we would have to start visiting a food pantry just so we could afford our trips to the pharmacy for our medications every month, the Lord was sending us a sign that a change was necessary.
This has been an eye-opening experience that through the loving help of friends which we never expected, taking a chance on a move that we were so hesitant to make and trusting in the direction of the Lord…change can be a good thing. Something that we dreaded so desperately is turning out to be one of the best things we could have ever done in our lives. Now, if the Patriots win the football game tomorrow, the professional movers don’t break anything on Monday and we are able to finish everything on Tuesday so we can turn our keys in to the old apartment to start our life at the new apartment, then 2014 may be the beginning of a wonderful future for this little family of ours. We are looking forward to some good times for a change. We have certainly suffered enough through 2013. I will keep you posted!