Sunday, July 28, 2002

Walk Down Memory Lane, Chapter 1

The Day I Learned about "Stuff"

It was a Saturday morning in the month of July. Todd and I had sold our home on Galileo Lane in Taylorsville in February and had moved in with his parents. This was our "home" until it came time to move.

The time had come to pack our things and move to Hawaii for Todd to go to school and begin the adventure that would soon lead to an Architectural Doctorate. We "couldn't take it with us." So we pulled all of our belongings out onto the front yard (and driveway) and placed a price tag on each item.

Most of the items were things that were given to us as wedding gifts. Some were things that we had bought for one another to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays. Others were items that were inherited (animal heads, a sofa and chair, dining table, bed).

I handled it all great. The negotiations went over well. Some were hysterical...the way people try to barter. Some people never understanding the sentimental value on an item and why it was so hard for me to drop the price.

It was so easy for me to negotiate the prices on items that didn't mean too much to me (the badger, the armoire that was falling apart, the floral arrangements I would like to have done differently).

The items that were the most difficult to sell were Todd's Explorer....that was his baby. It was the first thing he bought after his mission and he took such great care of it. It was hard to part with my sectional that Todd suprised me with our first Anniversary (but then it went to a good home, Adam and Angie's, so it was easier).

At noon, I had to shower and get ready for work. As I stood in the shower, it struck me. I sobbed and sobbed, grateful that the sound of the shower would drown out the sniffles. I didn't want anybody to think that this was hard for me. Thought after thought ran through my mind.

"The pioneers did this, and they survived. They probably hand carved the rocking chair, so it meant more to them than mine did."

"This is all real. I am really leaving the family I have loved, the city I have grown up in, and everything I have ever owned."

"Why aren't I stronger. Why is this so hard. It's just stuff."

I went to work and managed to survive. Annette, the owner of Fantasy Bridal, where I worked, through a Luau for me. I loved that job. I loved the people I worked with, the environment, the customers I helped, the chance to re-arrange things regularly. I was going to miss this place.

As the day came to an end, I knew that we were doing the right thing. Todd and I were going to blaze our own trail and try something new. I knew that it was going to strengthen our relationship with one another. We were given a chance to start over fresh and to experience unique trials together. We would only have one another to cling to, to share our problems and worries with. This was the beginning of our relationship with each other.

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