On Friday, May 31st my dad, stepmom, brother, and niece pulled into my driveway with an Aztec and a trailer. They had arrived to load me up and move me back home. It was time.
In so many ways, it was time. The night before I had finished my last ELS class and said goodbye to my students. All that week I had been meeting with friends to say goodbye. And I had been packing. Sorting. "Ruthlessly weeding" through my possessions (as my friends the Huizingas would say) and trying to pack.
I hate multi-layered packing. It seems that any time I pack it's multi-layered. That's when you have to pack with more than one trip in mind. For example, as I sorted through my clothes, this was the spiel I went through:
"Ok, do I need this shirt between now and when I move back to Ohio? No.
So, then do I need it for the 24 hours I'll be in Ohio? No.
Ok, will I need it during my road trip to see Kristy and Bob and Jane? No.
Well, then will I want to wear it this summer while I'm home? No.
Will I want it in Quito, Ecuador? No.
Um, am I EVER want to wear this shirt again? No.
Goodwill pile."
Imagine going through that scenario with every item you own. Yah. I can feel your sympathy.
Of course, if at any point during that big old list of questions the answer is yes, then I pack it into a corresponding container.
And in the end, I thought seriously about burning all my earthly possessions and starting over. But alas, you can't burn stuff in DuPage county, so I kept sorting and packing and eventually, I moved home.
1 comment:
Hi friend! I'd like to suggest a more efficient way of packing: start with you last question and in case of a "no" all the others will be redundant anyway:))) But I do know how that feels!
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