Moving Services and Products

BEFORE YOU START, HERE’S A TRICK
I planned to do as much of it myself that I could, and it seemed daunting. I kept putting it off. Finally I tackled one of the back bedrooms. I timed how long it took – 1 hour. 1 hour! Well, that made it all manageable. It’s the old trick of breaking it down into manageable “bites.” Of course some rooms take longer than others, but once you get an idea of the timeframe, and no it isn’t going to take forever, you know you can handle it.
A YOUNG, STRONG BACK
I’m reminded of the time someone came over to buy an extra piano I had. He arrived alone, and my strong, young son met him at the door. The man announced he had come for the piano and just stood there. I knew what he had in mind – fool that he was. He said, “Your son can help me can’t he?” I was preparing to say “Not on your life, sir. His back’s got to last a lifetime,” but my son beat me to the punch. “How much ?” he said. “I know what a young body’s worth.” We compromised (ha ha). I sent the guy off to get help of his own.
Well, if you look at who the pro movers hire, you’ll get an idea of what all that lifting involves.
I pack the boxes very light because it’s I who’s going to be moving them out to the garage where I’m pre-storing them, and then moving them around the new house when I move in.
At the same time, I consider it a “workout” and approach it that way. It’s been a couple of weeks of hard work, but I can’t say I’m the worst for it. I’ve got it narrowed down to where there’s just stuff I need for daily living, and the rest is boxed up and placed in closets or out in the garage. That is, one side of the garage. The other side is preparing for the garage sale.
Extra furniture? There’s someone in your town who will come and take away what you can’t sell. Goodwill, a homeless shelter, Habitat for Humanity. They’ll disassemble it and haul it off. Some of those big pieces of furniture aren’t worth moving.
As needed, hire some “strong young backs” to come over and help you. They’re good company, and concerned with their own things, not your move, which takes your mind off it all, and you can probably get some teenagers for a very reasonable rate.
BOOKS
Consider packing your books in small boxes and mailing them to your new address if you can, at the book rate. It can be cheaper than moving them.
TIME FRAME
I haven’t even put the house on the market yet, and about half the work is done. The house is easier to clean and show, decluttered, and I feel much more at ease about the move. When the time comes, I’ll hire professionals to come and finish up the task. In the meantime, each time I drive up to see my son in Dallas, I take some boxes along with me. He has storage space. It eases me into the transition.
DON’T FORGET THE REALLY HARD WORK
This is the house my children and I lived in for over twenty years. It’s an ambivalent move, as most are. I’m leaving a lot of memories and going forward to an uncertain future. I haven’t even looked for a new house yet, so I can’t picture where I’ll be. The hard physical labor has come in handy in that regard. Sometimes when I’m very tired I cry easily, and you might as well go ahead and cry and deal with the emotions as they occur.
Other times when I’m really tired physically, I just fall into bed and sleep well, and that’s good too! My aunt is also packing up to move at this time. Her husband is ill, she’s leaving their home of 40 years … we email and agree sometimes it‘s good to “keep so busy you don’t have time to think.” Doing your own moving is good for that. It also has given us time to “go through” everything one more time. Lots of memories. We agree, however, it’s time to move from memories of the past to memories in the future!
Don’t “pack up” the emotions, experience them, mourn the losses, be excited about the future, and experience it all as it happens. That’s the emotionally intelligent way to move.
And P.S. Don't be a perfectionist. There was the couple in med school moving across country who's "load settled." Well, that's what insurance and resilience are for. If it's irreplaceable, place it in your lap and drive it there. And good luck!

Susan Dunn

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