A Moving Experience

Moving is a horrible experience – it can break your back. I have lived in my current house for over twenty years, and I am more convinced than ever that I want to live here another twenty plus. A few weeks ago I helped some friends move some of their stuff out of their house; they were moving to a different place. With my truck and trailer I made a trip from their old house to their new house to drop off some stuff, another trip to a rented storage space with some stuff they had no room for, and another trip to a guy’s house to drop off some stuff that was his or was about to be.

At least once a year we should help someone move their earthly possessions from one residence to another. This simple act of kindness should convince us that we have too many things, and/or that we should rarely voluntarily move from our current home.

The boxes and trips up and down the stairs never seem to end. You wonder how you ever accumulated so much junk; you vow to get rid of it as soon as you can find the matches and gasoline.

When I was helping my parents move from the house where they had raised their five kids to a new house across town, I made a decision to lighten the load: a couple boxes of twenty-year old Ladies’ Home Journal, Better Homes and Gardens and Good Housekeeping didn’t make it past the first unattended dumpster.

You get to know someone quite intimately when you move their possessions. Under what other circumstances would you be allowed to carry around a dresser drawer full of personal property and other unmentionables? Any other time you begin examining the contents of drawers in someone else’s bedroom you are asked to leave.  Almost nothing is off limits when you are helping someone move. In fact, you are encouraged to help yourself to anything you can comfortably carry.   

Sometimes the request for help can come as a surprise and with a little creativity it can be answered in a surprising fashion. A friend of mine was over at his in-laws for Christmas dinner with his wife and adult son. Sometime during the evening his mother-in-law asked if a piano and desk could be moved. Pleas of protest from his wife to her mother regarding dress pants, a freshly laundered shirt and a new sweater were not heeded. So, undaunted by the challenge, my friend and his son removed their Christmas clothes and moved the furniture in their underwear.

Sometime, during the move (I think it was while carrying the piano) my friend’s father-in-law asked him if he had a hernia.

“No, my belly just looks that way,” he replied.

I doubt he’ll be asked to help again during the holidays.

When given notice I usually plan my outfit for moving day: something loose and durable, with matching shoes. I also try and ready myself for the event because moving means change and change can be hard

When I moved my parents into the nursing home several years apart from each other, I noticed how most of their possessions stayed behind. When I moved my kids back and forth to college most of their belongings stayed home as well, but later when I moved them to their own homes they took most everything from their rooms. While my wife has found other uses for the kids’ bedrooms, behind closed doors they are quiet, cold and void of life. 

Moving is a horrible experience – it can break your heart.