Home Free!
At precisely 11:59 pm on August 21, 2011, a full minute before the closing date, Chris and I pulled out of our driveway one last time, completely exhausted, leaving behind our home of 9 years. It had taken five trips to the storage unit with varying sized loads, over a period of one month, and a very imaginative use of every single cubic inch of space in that storage unit – but we did it! Much to my amazement (yes, I admit, I didn’t think we – and I mean the royal we – could do it), we had squeezed the contents of our lives into a 15 x 20 foot box.
I was surprised by the toll this move had taken on us, both physically and emotionally. During the last few months, there were highs and lows as we plowed our way through the never ending to do list. At the end of it all, while we may have been tired and a little bruised and aching (we’re not twenty year olds after all), we looked on the bright side – we were still married, we had not killed or maimed each other, and we were still even talking to each other, and of course, we were now home free – a great accomplishment all around.
Who would have known that pursuing one’s dreams would be such hard work!
How did it feel to be “homeless”? It felt very free and light. No chores. No responsibilities. No worries. I’m sure the fact that we stayed with my kids (about 10 days with each) and they treated us like royalty helped to soften the blow. And the steady stream of dinner invitations from family and friends didn’t hurt either. I was really touched by the way our friends and family reached out to us and made us feel so loved and cared for. I honestly didn’t think our friends liked us that much!
The last few weeks in Canada were a very pleasant transition into our vagabond lifestyle.