SUPER HIGHS AND A FEW LOWS OF MOVING

The beautiful truck with the movers to do the job for us this time!

This past Monday, Ray had the day off, because Carly was moving out.  She was going to her own apartment, and wisely, we hired movers this time.  I did not want to move her things again.  TwoMarinesMoving.com was a beautiful thing to see early Monday morning.  I had decided I could easily work half a day, and then drive the hour to her apartment.  The movers would be just about done or possibly done, and I would then be able to help with the unpacking and unloading of boxes.  The hardest part was waiting for my morning to even get started, since my first two patients cancelled.  Fortunately my third patient came in very early at my request, and the day was over soon enough.  I hit the road excited to see the place Carly had chosen to live for the next year or longer.  I knew just how to get to the building, but then I realized I had no clue what apartment she was in (What building--in the back was what I had known for two months. What street--not parallel to the busy one that leads to the hospital.  What door--on the first floor near the pool.).  Within minutes of her complex, I called her, she sounded great, and she guided me into the parking lot.

Seeing the huge smile on Carly's face and then on Ray's when he came up behind her as they opened the door to lead me into her new apartment was so much more beautiful then seeing those movers. Their smiles lit up the place making it even more warm and inviting then I knew it could be, and just added to the bright and sunny day that we were lucky to have.  This was the best part of the day!

Some of the more memorable moments (after those smiles) that I will have of the day are:

*Making the bed twice, since we forgot to put on the mattress pad the first time. While frustrating, it was still fun getting those brand new, fresh and crisp sheets, pillowcases and comforter put on the queen size bed that had been our guest room furniture for seven years.  The bed, dresser and nightstand are gorgeous and grown up just like her.

 *The closet seemed to be a daunting and overwhelming task (she has so many clothes, but who am I to judge since I have been able to get away with wearing uniforms during the week for the past thirty years!), but once we folded her sweatshirts and while she complimented my technique, they all fit perfectly on all of those shelves in her walk-in closet.  

*Being delegated tasks such as putting away the cutlery, plates and glasses or watching Ray build the bookshelves was a much better memory than visiting a nearby department store at five pm with the hundreds of others (furloughed employees possibly? why were they all out shopping?).  She knows what store not to go to anymore.  This one happened to be turned around, cluttered and just a mess, but the good memory is that the three of us shopped together, were annoyed together and still laughed together.  

* Hanging up the brightly striped shower curtain in her master bathroom was a happy and chipper chore, even though the liner had been temporarily misplaced.  The thought of not having the bathroom completed then and there would be unheard of by two OCD people.  Happily, the liner was found within minutes of its loss.

*Sitting down to eat wonderfully homemade chicken salad for lunch was a much deserved break and familiarity, but then forgetting only her dinner at the store (left on the carousel, perhaps?) was stupid and comical.  Good thing she loves that chicken salad!

*The cleaniness of the apartment upon arrival and filling it up with my daughter's personal possessions was heartwarming, and Ray and I were both just so excited for her.

*Driving away from her apartment that night (it was a work night for me, but Ray was off the next day) and seeing that same gorgeous but now tired smile of her's light up the parking lot was absolutely priceless.  

And then of course there were hard parts of the day--

*The cleanliness of her bedroom at home, but the emptiness of all of the rooms was a little bit melancholy.  I am used to the empty living room, because she had the living room furniture in her apartment last year.  But then to see her baby trunk completely cleaned out, and her bathroom drawers along with cabinets totally empty was sadly real.  Things she had left sitting around for the four years she was in college, knowing that she was coming home for winter, spring and summer breaks...gone.  She had done an amazing job of purging and then donating, trashing,  and also selling her things.  She had done just as amazing a job of packing the things she needed to have with her and to make her place her own.

And I realized while driving home with the convertible top down, blasting my music on that gorgeous Monday night, that Ray and I had done an amazing job raising a super bright, beautiful, independent woman!  There is no better feeling than this.  Monday will always be an amazing and special day albeit sad, but it will be equally happy to see her flourish in her new life and for her to become a part of the new world around her.
(Now Ray and I will just need to have her smile that smile, calm us down and gently move us along the day we change our lives and our world.)

This is our office.  The totes and boxes are for Carly's future classroom.

This is the dining room "pre-move".

This is the living room "pre-move".

Carly whittled her memories and belongings for storage down to these totes.

The totes on the left are empty (this whole space once housed floor to ceiling, left to right full totes.  The lone one straight ahead is my "Panama" tote.