Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Big Move

This post is just a brief breaking into the Lenten interlude that I am observing.

I have been occupied for the last several weeks with getting things ready for my father and step-mother to move from their cottage in a retirement village to a two room apartment in a sheltered environment.  Any moving process requires much preparation, but some take more time than others. 

As it turns out, my father has lived in this location longer than he has lived ANYWHERE in his whole life.  He and my mother bought their cottage in 1987.  And he has lived there since their move there in the summer of 1987.  Twenty-five years.  Longer than any other place he has lived.


My dad grew up as a missionary child.  He was born in Pennsylvania, and then when he was a bit more than a year old went with his parents to southern Africa.  He lived there until he was ten.  He moved around with them, living first in Oklahoma for several years, then in southern California, where he lived his teen years.  Southern California reminded him very much of southern Africa--and he loved living there.

But when he graduated from high school, his parents moved back to Pennsylvania, and he along with them.  Only--he was not to live with them.   Hard times called for hard solutions.  His parents had three younger children, and they basically told my dad that he was on his own.  So he worked on farms as a hired hand for a while, until he saved enough to go to college.  When he was able to, he returned to southern California to enter college. After completing college, and getting married, he and my mother went to Africa as missionaries.  That was 1946.  They were to stay there, returning to the U.S. twice for vacations, until 1965.

Back to Pennsylvania once again--where he lived until 1972 when he and my mother moved to Indiana for a decade.  The last stop for a few years before my dad retired was some time in Ontario, Canada.

So, the long journey of moving around as a child, then as an adult, finally ended with retirement in Pennsylvania, and the retirement cottage in which my parents lived.  1987 until 2012.

Twenty-five years--of house furnishings, of personal possessions, of memories, of joys, of sorrows.

Tomorrow, my father and step-mother will move within the same complex from one living arrangement to another.  The big move. 

11 comments:

Ginger said...

Thinking of you. I'm fast approaching a similar move for my parents, and it's a very difficult thing for them to face. Blessings as you see your father and stepmother through this transition.

Anvilcloud said...

I wish you all well. I guess I and my parents were fortunate in that they were able to stay in their own place until the end.

Beverly said...

Oh my, that is a big move. I wish them well in this new phase.

NCmountainwoman said...

In 1995 we brought my husband's mother from her house in NC to a facility in WI where we lived. She had lived in her NC house for 45 years and was something of a pack rat.

Good luck and I do hope the move and the transition go smoothly with your parents. And with you.

Anonymous said...

I'm Lamar Fretz, and have been reading on and on to figure out who you are. Your dad and I have been friends since 1963, and knew his father longer than that. What strikes me now is how your brain works like his and like your grandfather's.
My mother-in-law Abbie Nigh Winger Sider is your dad's second cousin. She at 90 has lots of oxygen on the brain; she also has a Climenhaga brain, and tries to keep me in line

Ruth said...

I hope your dad is well. I remember the interesting email he sent me regarding churches in Guelph and Kitchener. That would have been at least 4-5 years ago. Moving is never easy.

Ginnie said...

Moves are almost always traumatic but it sounds like you're being a big help. All the best to them.

KGMom said...

To all--I think my dad & step-mom are settling in. I know it is a big transition, and as such can be disorienting. Thankfully, it's the same total facility, so their friends are still close by. And now they get three meals a day, plus housekeeping. When they need it, they will also get more nursing care.

troutbirder said...

It is so hard to give up those things we a so comfortable with... Then there was Alzheimers and the nursing home for my mom, even harder yet...

Mary Lee said...

They have each other and that is not to be under-estimated. Your parents sound resilient and like people who don't take their blessings for granted. I hope they love their new surroundings.

Mauigirl said...

Hope it all went well. It's a big move but I hope they are happy in their new location.