Writer, Unboxing

 

A few weeks ago, because of a work related transfer for my husband, we moved from Texas to Missouri. Not a move we planned, more of a dumped in our lap, huge life decision with little time to make it kind of thing. We never intended to leave the house we lived in or the community we’d grown to love over the past many years. We never dreamed we’d move away from our extended families or have to transfer our kids out of their school district, away from their lifelong friends.

And yet, here we are, starting over, unpacking twenty+ years of accumulated *stuff*, box by box. It’s been tough.

Families move all the time, of course, often unexpectedly. We’re certainly not alone in this experience, and realize we have much to be thankful for. So we’ve powered through the range of emotions, the countless hours of lost sleep, strained backs and biceps, and soggy, toppled boxes full of broken items in our flooded moving truck…and again in our storage unit. And our experience here so far has been rewarding. People are warm and friendly, the schools are impressive and welcoming, and the weather is beautiful (85 degrees in August/September feels much better than the 100 we’re used to).

Good times are ahead, I know, and I’m sure it will start feeling like home if I can just finish unpacking all our stuff! It’s hard not to get distracted…as I’m unboxing, I’m finding gems: photos, keepsakes, and precious notes my kids wrote in their early years. Things that I might not have seen for another twenty years, had I not had occasion to move them. And I’m revisiting story ideas, too–finding inspiration as I sift through my writing notebooks.

Change is hard, but with change comes tremendous opportunity for learning and growth. Life feels fresh, invigorating, and ripe with possibility, and that excites me! Boxes can wait, time to write!

 

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