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Naperville
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Real Life – Moving on

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During the first decade of independence, in the time between college graduation and the purchase of our first home, we moved more than ten times. These operations were relatively painless, supported by helpful friends paid in pizza and beer, plus a rental truck we drove ourselves.

Midway through the second decade of autonomy, when life seemed to stretch endlessly into the future, we decided to move again. It did not occur to us that this move may become permanent. Nothing in our past spoke to permanence, since we were, in retrospect, giddily young and up for any adventure. One exhausting yard sale and an enormous professional moving truck later, we and our two young children found ourselves ensconced in the home we still occupy today.

Moving from this house one day will not be pretty. We raised three children here, and though they have moved out, much of their “stuff” has not. When we put an addition on the place, my mother-in-law stated that this would make it easier to keep things organized. If by being organized she meant stuffing things in closets and drawers, we certainly met the standard. It’s not that I could not methodically purge, if I were so inclined. There are just so many other things I’d rather do.

A deadline, however, is a great motivator. I cannot think of anything else that would make sensible people with bikes to ride and good books to read unload an entire garage onto the driveway. We did this recently up north, a bit of a practice run compared with the heft of what I imagine a full scale down-size must entail.

I make a mental inventory of our own family’s clutter, augmented by inherited framed mementos, boxes of ties, hats and such. My siblings sent those, imagining that I had the room for it, perhaps. One rainy day soon, I should sort it.

Better yet, we’ll start with the garage. (c)

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Patti Koltes
Patti Koltes
Real Life © by Patti Koltes. Contact her at pkoltes@gmail.com.

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