Our house is a chaotic jungle of possessions. Vicki is packing, organizing, stressing, and prepping for the move. Ken and I are doing our best to help her; unfortunately, most of it she has to handle herself.
In addition to all the prep for moving, she is making appointments with moving companies, trying to buy a car, and in disbelief that she got her dream job. The disbelief will go away once she signs her paperwork on Friday and completely disappear when she is working long hours to get the new library up and going.
This means Ken and I will be alone again. It is odd when people say to me “Aren’t you going to be sad?” My answer is how can I be sad that my daughters who are all three brilliant amazing women in their own ways have done exactly what I raised them to do. They have gone out and grabbed their lives and are living them.
It amazes me when I talk to them and hear about their lives. I may not be involved in their daily life. I may not talk to them daily or even every week (depending on everyone’s schedule) but I know if they need me or have news – Ken or I are their first call. I’m so proud of who they are and what they have accomplished.
We have a lot going on in the next ten days. Vicki, her godmother, and I went Indiana to look at apartments. We looked at four apartments and went to five complexes. The first apartment was small and very much like her college apartment – a bit shabby and old. The second one was a viable option even though it was small and the bathroom had an odd setup. The third one they took her to one I couldn’t get into and when she was about to walk away they said well they might have one that was accessible and took us to that. It had a great layout with full size washer / dryer and place for her laundry but even though it was a new complex the cabinets and counters were very old looking (i.e. something from the 60s). The other thing was the one they showed us they weren’t sure it was in a cat building. Vicki’s concern was that she would have to choose between having her cat (not a choice there) or being in a place I could visit (not a choice there either in her mind). The fourth place was just a fiasco. We had an appointment with them and had talked at length about her needs before we set up an appointment but when we got there – they weren’t sure they had anything. Then the woman said well I have two that might work and of course of the two the more expensive one was the better option which was nearly $50 over her budget. We walked away.
The last place we went to is the one she was most excited about. We were two hours early and walked through the apartment. It was nearly perfect! There were lots of closets, a wood burning fireplace, washer/dryer hookup, fenced patio, end unit, and just a nice layout. It is a two bedroom, one bath with a nice sized living dining room. The bathroom is a normal layout. The kitchen is a typical galley kitchen for an apartment, however, it has a gas stove. There is lots of light, room, and a good feeling to the apartment. The two drawbacks, it has plush carpet and no good place for cat litter box and there are two steps to get into the building. These were concerns for Vicki. I told her not to be worried about the steps because even though we had walked around so many apartments I managed the two steps. Also Ken (today) suggested we get a chair mat to put under the litter box to protect the carpet. This addresses the problem for the carpeting.
The woman who showed us the apartment kept asking Beth if we liked the apartment. She also was the most helpful when we called. She went and took pictures of the actual apartment so Vicki could see it before she put money into her application. Also we spent some time with this woman and she would be one of the people Vicki would be dealing with. She is also a cat person and was very fun to be around. We took the apartment. She has a place to live and the utilities are set up. We haven’t nailed down some of the details.
Next weekend we will move her to Indiana with the help of some wonderful people. Up here Alex and one of my student workers is going to help with loading the truck on Friday. Then when we get to Indiana, Kelly and Dominic and their families are going to help with the unloading. This week it will be finishing packing up and finalizing details. My goal for next weekend is to get her settled into her apartment – boxes unpacked and furniture placed and items put in something of order.
Will there be tears? Oh hell yes! I’m happy for her but it will be sad to leave her in Indiana. Just as I cried when Virginia and Stephanie moved to Georgia – it isn’t sadness though – it is more happy tears to see them move forward with their lives and know that my role in their lives is changing. I welcome that change. Afterall, I raised my daughters to be strong, independent, self-sufficient women, which they all are.
