Moving On

I have moved a lot A LOT in my life. My father had a bit of a wanderlust I think. He never seemed to believe he had found "home" so he kept on looking.

Moving could be an adventure. It is also a lot of work. My poor mother had to pack up all our belongings and all of us each time we moved.

Some of our moves were only to a different house in the same town. We lived in 14 different towns with multiple homes in most of them. That was a lot of moving.

At least the houses we lived in were anchored to the ground. My father worked for a time with a house moving company. They actually lifted a whole house and placed it on wheels and moved it to another location.

My father had been out of work for a short time and found work at a dairy farm in Washington state. He went ahead while Mom finished packing and getting rid of most of our things. All we kept were clothes and personal items and a few toys.

My mother moved 5 children almost 1400 miles by train. She ended up with a migraine headache. She suffered terribly from them all her life. I did try to help but I was only 9 years old. I am afraid I was not much help.

Other passengers were very nice to a bunch of wild children. They spent time with us and even gave us candy to keep us occupied. For us it was a wonderful trip. For Mom it was totally miserable.

As you can imagine I hate moving. I swore that once I was married I would find a home and stay there forever. Famous last words.

I married a man who was born in the house he lived in for his whole life. Add to that the fact that there was practically no work in the area at the time it was inevitable that we would move away.

We moved to the big city. I hated it there.  We were young and even though my husband's brother and his family lived in the same big city we were homesick. We tried moving home.

It did not work out. There was still very little work. I was expecting our first baby and wanted to be close to family. But we ended up moving back to that awful city. We had to have money coming in.

Once my family moved to the big city it was a little easier. My husband and I both felt we had the stability that family offers.

We had two children when my husband took a job driving truck for an out of state company. We moved to another state.

I was pregnant with our third child so I was not able to travel right away. The two boys and I stayed with my parents until after the baby was born.

Then came time for the big move. My husband had transported furniture and most of our clothes. But how were we to get there?

My sister-in-law volunteered to drive us. She was not working at the time and her college classes were between semesters. She was excited about the trip.

So we packed two small boys, two grown women, and a fairly new baby into her VOLKSWAGON BUG! We also had clothing and all the paraphernalia that is needed for a baby. There was something to drink and a few snacks. And of course things to occupy the boys. The trip was more than 550 miles.

Oh what fun we had. Two very small boys and a baby who was tired of being held cooped up for hours and hours and hours in the VW. Two grown women who were trying go faster while growing tired of traveling.

In spite of all that it was not totally unpleasant. My sister-in-law is a funny person and I have my moments. We did a lot of laughing. After we stopped for supper the boys finally settled down and went to sleep. It was a little more peaceful.

Boy did it feel good to finally arrive at the home my husband had found for us. Getting out of that little bitty car and stretching our legs was heavenly.

My sister-in-law stayed for a few days. Then the poor thing had to drive back by herself.

So my boys and I settled in to our new home. My husband came home one weekend and I let him know that he needed to watch the boys while I visited the doctor. We were having another baby.

We were both shocked. Then we were happy once we got used to the idea.

Then my husband found a different house in a neighboring town. We moved again.

We loved the new place. My husband was on the road all week so it was just the boys and me. We did a lot of exploring together. For the first time in their lives the boys had the freedom to do a little exploring on their own.

The only problem was that I had more than thirty miles to go to get to the hospital to have my baby. My babies are all born very quickly and we did not believe that I would make it in time. So the boys and I went again to stay with my parents while I had the baby.

After my daughter was born and I was able to travel we needed to go home. This time there was no one to take us. I was not up to driving all that way with four very small children. My husband could not take off work. What to do?

We decided that the kids and I would fly home. I was treated like a queen. The stewardesses (I know that is no longer politically correct but they were called that at the time) helped me with the children. They made sure they had things to do and snacks.

When the baby cried they offered to care for her elsewhere. I needed to feed her was all so while their help was appreciated it would not work. They even offered to change her diaper. It is truly the best way to travel with children.

My final move was more than 800 miles. I had lived in the big city for more than 45 years. It is amazing how much "stuff" a person accumulates over that period of time.

I rented a UHaul truck and loaded it up. My daughter and her family came along to help once I got here. My son was already here.

The plan was to have someone ride with me as I drove the truck. The rest would ride in their car. Having someone to talk to helps to keep from falling asleep. Driving can be extremely hypnotic.

My granddaughter rode with me first. She is great at keeping a driver company. Then my daughter and grandson joined me and my granddaughter rode with her father.

My daughter and grandson sat silently playing video games on their cell phones the whole time. My son-in-law was ecstatic to have someone who was talking. Before long we were fighting over my granddaughter's company. He won! Daddys always do.

It was a long old trip. I was exhausted when we arrived. My wonderful family unloaded the truck and had me rest while they did it.

I believe I will probably move one more time. I love the location where I now live but the house has some serious problems. I do not look forward to another move. I say with confidence it will be my last.