There's Relief in Packing It All Away

From the day the "Sold" sign covered the "For Sale by Owner" message, Ed and I scrambled to transition from Texas homeowners to full-time RVers. Ed managed the house sale inspections, real estate transactions, furniture sale, utility transfers, and negotiations with the new owners of 209 Old Tyler Road while I continued my fund raising assignments as a consultant for Ketchum. Between client visits and weekends at the house, I finished packing and sorting always asking myself, "Is this a keepsake, something I need in the RV, an item for the garage sale, or a donation to Goodwill?" I felt relief in making these decisions. It gave me a freedom to breathe and to choose again the life Ed and I would live.

As the keepsake trunks filled, we moved them to spots in the double car garage. Grandma's Desert Rose and Blue Willow dishes sat in boxes marked fragile in the dining room. Emptying the contents of Suzie's bedroom closet and riding saddles took numerous trips to the storage facility outside of Whitehouse where they would stay for a month. Stuff that might be needed in the RV went directly to space there to be resorted and minimized later. Garage sale items were toted directly to the large metal building on the top acre of our lot. Large pieces of furniture stayed in the house through a special arrangement with the new owners so that prospective buyers could view them as if they were in a furniture store showroom. And, Goodwill benefited from our frequent trips to Tyler as we delivered a box or two with each trip.

We closed on the house April 30, 2007 and vacated it by May 4, 2007 except for the furniture and trunks. We held weekend garage sales beginning May 12 through May 26. An on June 9, I left our yard in a Penske rental truck packed with the items marked for storage at Mom's Greensburg, Pennsylvania home and Suzie's stuff for her to sort once I reached Montgomery City, Missouri. The truck held only one item of furniture, all the rest had been sold. This remaining oak kitchen table and chairs would go to Suzie's summer rental house - one last remembrance of the Texas home.

Ed thought I'd cry as I pulled away, but I didn't. There was relief in packing it all away and hitting the road.