Start spreadin' the news...I'm leavin' today...
Actually, it's not today...it's NEXT Saturday. September 30th will be my last day of residence in Da Mayer's Windy City.
My "alternative work program" application for working virtual (fancy phrase for telecommuting) from Ohio has finally been approved. I have 23 half-empty boxes, and a whole bunch of shelves that are half (or more) empty. This weekend will hopefully put a major dent in that amount.
The tragic thing is, there just isn't all that much there - not a lot of value there, as I survey the wreckage. A man standing on the nigh-side of 50 should have a little more to his name, it seems. But, as I once told friends, in packing it seems that 90% of the stuff takes 90% of the time to pack, and the last 10%....also takes 90% of the time.
Some things will go into storage; some things (probably too much) will go to the new abode in Waterville, OH where I will share space with my sister and brother-in-law. The goal is to get the heck out of the city, and help them out financially as well.
I had a last dinner with one sponsee Thursday night. Despite his repeated claims that he had his tear-ducts surgically removed early in sobriety, he seemed a wee bit leaky around the eyes. I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised, but it still was touching to see how one soul can link to another. But his road has already separated from mine - he moved into a new-to-him home in Crown Point, IN a week ago. He has a lady in his life, and a baby enroute (ETA, January 2) - and the house, relationship, and impending child take up a lot of time. Hopefully, he will find another sponsor to hold onto as his life gets more and more interesting.
As I told him, if he is walking hand-in-hand with God, and I am walking hand-in-hand with God, then we will be walking together, regardless how many miles separate us...
My co-workers were a bit non-plussed. Comments ranged from "oh, well, good luck" to "Damn, this SUCKS!" It's all a little funny, because there are days when I won't see anyone in my cube for 4 hours - this crew will even send instant messages (IM's) when they are 3 cubes away. I may have to post pictures of myself in my new space, just to remind folks of what I look like.
Tomorrow will be my last Saturday-morning meeting in Chicago. I will miss those meetings - the (mostly) younger men infused that meeting with a passion for recovery that was inspiring. But I know the same good meetings will be there in northwest Ohio, too. And, as always, the AA truism is still there: wherever you go, there you are. Disease or recovery, I will bring it with me, I suppose.
This week will also be "hell week" at The Evil Empire - long nights, and long days, are ahead. So I need to bring this day to a close, and get up early tomorrow to make the most of the daylight.
Pray for me. I rarely do transitions well...so I need all the support I can get.
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6 comments:
Steve man, may i in my turn envy you the relative lack of "stuff" you have to move. I have learned that the more stuff you have to move, the more the weight gains exponentially, not arithmetically. That means that the 20th box doesn't weigh 20x the first box, it weighs 20 x 20 the first box! Lemme tell ya, the less you have to move, the less your spirit and your body (same thing) will groan, my man. May it pass quickly!
We are still unpacking... and despite determined pre-move disposal efforts, have made three trips to the local thrift shop, to donate items that should never have moved with us. Less is indeed more.
Godspeed as you wind up and move out, my cyberfriend.
yay for you! i'm so happy that you were able to make this transition and be close to family too! great news!
if i can give you any unasked for advice it would be to rethink the storage space idea. we have found through family and friends that the things they thought were so important to store ended up being far more expensive in the long run with double moves, insurance and fees.
too many have said 'oh i wish i had just given away those things'. so, for whatever it's worth (advice, not the goods in storage) really think about what it's going to take to maintain those items vs. their "real" value.
just my 2 cents. happy packing!
Peter, it was Kansas. If it was Foreigner I was looking for, the moving song would be titled Feels Like the Twelfth Time.
That's right. Since 1983 (gads - 23 years!), I have moved 12 times. Of course, two of those were in my first year of marriage, and 3 of them were within 14 months of getting sober...
My friend Ted is very, very glad he now has an electronic organizer - no more erasing holes in Steve's address page. Thank God for web-based email that doesn't have to change every time I change internet providers...
Safe journeys!
And if I may second Bobbie's advice on storing stuff...
In 1999 I helped a friend in Chocago pay for putting some things in storage when she moved east. That storage facility recently closed down and her stuff was thrown away. In seven years she had never needed a single thing in that rented space, but she (and others who came to her assistance) paid over three thousand dollars so it could take up space on Wabash.
If it can go into storage, that probably means you won't be using it for a long time. If you won't be using it for a long time, you probably won't need to use it ever.
The Tao Te Ching says if you know you have enough, you are rich.
Michael says anything more than that just slows you down.
God speed!
Praying plenty over you...
plenty of rest
plenty of good memories
plenty of teary goodbyes (so you remember how important you have been there)
plenty of grace for your landlord and wacked co-workers
plenty of back strength
plenty of descision-making ability
plenty of brainspace to share with the Lord
And plenty of peace in the midst of chaos.
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