Tag: home

No Going Back

Last week I was reminded of a lesson which I learned a long time ago. We decided to take a trip back to our home state. Our trip began by returning to the community which we left when we moved to Texas. We had a wonderful car ride through four states and both dogs did very well in the car. In fact, the trip was a pleasant one all around. We were able to see friends and family. We were also able to see the damage that an August storm had done to our former community. However, as wonderful as our time there was, we both clearly felt that moving back is not what we wanted.

Once you have left a place, moving back to that place is seldom possible. Visits are nice and nostalgic but you cannot pick up where you left off when you moved away. A person’s life and the lives of those who you knew in whatever community you left move forward in different ways. You adapt and change. Nothing from before stays on hold. It is truly never the same again. When you are living there, this change happens each and every day but goes unnoticed because it is just part of life. After being gone from the community for a period of time, the change is noticeable and creates a much different dynamic for relationships within the community.

I first learned this lesson between my freshman and sophomore year of college. I had lived in my home community for eighteen years. Going to college meant going to a larger community approximately a hundred miles away. I came home for weekends and breaks but when I returned the following summer, I found that while my closest friends remained, they had moved on with life. I also discovered that I had changed some while I was away at college. The hometown was never the same because I had experienced something significantly different.

Like many others, I have experienced this truth over and over in my life. During a time of reminiscing, it is easy to desire to return to what we have experienced before. Thoughts of going back to a place which is filled with memories might enter a person’s mind. However, when you return to that place, you find that it is not the same. In fact, it can never be the same again.

I am grateful for our trip back. I have missed the family and friends we left behind. I enjoyed seeing people even more than the places where we used to go. However, I was glad to come back home. I cherish the life we have created in our new home. This is now home and going back to what we had before is no longer an option.

The Trip

The morning after the movers left was planned to be the loading of our two cars. My husband is much better at packing vehicles than I am, so I delegated that responsibility to him. Besides all the items which the movers could not take and the items we needed until they arrived, there had to be room in the cars for a driver and one of our dogs. You can imagine what a challenge this was for my husband. We do not have small cars, we have four-door sedans, but there still was a lot to fit in each of them.

Our plan had been to begin our journey by 8:00 am or 9:00 am at the latest. Yet, it became clear that even though we had awakened early, our time frame was not going to be met. The packing of the cars was a challenge which required some unpacking and repacking. This all was taking place in rain and light snow which added to the challenge. There also was clear evidence that we had more left in the house than we were going to be able to fit in the vehicles.

One of our family members and our neighbor came to help us out again. They began going through the cleaning supplies and food we had planned on taking with us. Some of it was thrown in the garbage, some was to be taken home with our neighbor, and some would go home with my husband’s brother. We would have to replace what we needed once we got to our new home. While my husband packed the cars and the other two sorted through items we could not take, I began cleaning what we had to leave until the last minute.

Around 11:00 am, we were ready to pull out on our journey to our new home. We said our final good-byes and loaded the dogs into the cars. Each dog would get one foot well in the back seat of the car. We had put their beds in each car respectfully but our largest dog, a black Labrador mix, had no room if the bed was in there, so we moved that one to the trunk of the car. We would be on the road for close to twelve hours.

As we started our trip, the snow had started coming down. For the next four hours it would snow off and on as we made our way. We made it out of Iowa and had entered Missouri when we decided to make our first stop. This stop was mainly to let the dogs get out for a stretch, but we also used it as an opportunity for a restroom break and to get something to drink. The snow had stopped but a cold wind from the north made standing outside with the dogs unpleasant. After taking care of the needs of all four of us, we were back on the road.

Our trip consisted of driving on interstate almost the whole distance. We made stops for the dogs, to get gas and/or to grab some food. We made it through Kansas City without much hassle. Our journey down Kansas’ tollway was uneventful. There was just one time we had an issue convincing our oldest dog to get back into the vehicle. He seemed done with traveling and having bad back hips did not want to climb back in the car. Eleven hours later, we were coming into the metroplex which would be our new home.

After traveling almost 900 miles and going through five states, we arrived safely but weary at our new home. We pulled the cars into the garage, only to realize it was a tight fit. We let the dogs out and into the house so they could explore a little. Next the dogs went outside into the fenced-in back yard to take care of needs and get the layout of their new yard. While they were outside, we started to unpack the necessary items from the cars.

Once the dogs and the needed items were in the house, we put air in the mattress, added the bedding and laid down for our first night of sleep in our new sparsely furnished home.