72 degrees this morning. Sitting on my patio for at least the next to the last time in the morning, enjoying it without any regrets, just glad I had the chance to experience it. A tradition, but not the one I am speaking of.
For probably the last 8 years we have had supper and then went to each other homes to play games (It changed through the years, lately mostly "Spicy Farkle" and talk about life. It was an event we looked forward to, and many times it was changed or canceled due to other plans. However, if we could we tried to get together once per week. It was part of the tapestry of our life in Lakeland, a memory we will value and miss, but most of all, glad we had the opportunity to have the experience.
Still a slight lull in the chaos to come. How do you forward mail when you have no forwarding address? It sounds rather suspicious! Actually, we are still looking for a house, but fortunately our furniture etc. can't be delivered until next week, so we have time to find a house.
Movers are coming tomorrow and we are leaving our wonderful house, with the forest we have looked at and admired for the past eight years. I think Aliene will really feel the loss since she spent a lot more days here in the house while I was at work etc. She also spent many evenings here by herself while I was at work. Of course, I thought if it as a place of refuge, where I could truly relax and enjoy the house and view of the forrest. The fact that we have had seven months (really 10 months) with the knowledge that the parting was coming allowed us to prepare but also made the process (I hesitate to say grieving process, for it may seem too strong, but that is what it is, in a sense. Worse yet, is seeing Lakeland deteriorate into a less than average city.
But, change is a fact of life. Looking on the good side, we had 12 great years here, 8 great years in a wonderful house and met friends we would never have known.
I feel the stirrings of the anticipation of change, the possible positive consequences of the major changes in our life. I don't think either one of us will allow our regret at leaving to influence our opportunities.
We still have some major decisions, such as the actual house we live in, what we are going to do etc. Then the long process of unpacking, going through our items and throwing/giving away as much as possible! If I truly followed the rule of "throwing away anything I haven't used for a year (or two years, depending on which rule you follow), I would travel a lot lighter! We hope we have the time to go through each box with a fine tooth comb and give away or donate etc. a lot of items. I am also going to be much more careful when I buy something, maybe trying to see how I would react after a year of owning it!
Going to do some light moving (such as figuring out how much we want to put in the car, since we will be living without a lot of our normal items for at least a week), some furniture moving to help the new owner get fast start on some remodeling she wants to do, nd trying to remember to change/cancel everything, which is almost the hardest part!
Saying Goodbye has always been hard for me. In the past, at times I have handled it by disappearing and avoiding final goodbye's, but I realize years ago, it was best to experience it, so I try to say goodbye to important people and places in my life. In the case of Lakeland, we will be back for various reasons, so that will help some.
When a major event happens (such as a disaster, a major news event etc.), I always wonder, "What would the headline be if it wasn't for the event". Like that, I have to wonder what I would be writing if the current circumstances didn't exist and I was staying?
When I first read the Robert Frost poem about two roads and the "one not taken" , it hit a special chord in me. I believe I was in the sixth grade. As with any decision, the "road not taken" will never exist, at least the journey down that road will never exist.
We are starting on a new journey.
We will value and learn from our past journey as we take another road, the journey yet to come.
That's it for Sunday, June 22, 2014.
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