If I knew then: Moving on
December 9, 2009 by Colleen Conant
Filed under If I Knew Then, Perspective
We moved last month. It was quite an experience.
We lived in our former home longer than we had lived in any home: 12 years.
When I was in the newspaper business, we lived in four different communities and moved five times. The longest we had been in a house previously was six years. While moving is certainly disruptive to the family, it sure promotes shedding stuff. In 12 years we had collected a lot of stuff.
The primary reason for the move was to downsize and simplify. And finally to have a view of the mountains we love so much.
But this move was bittersweet. Living in a home for 12 years, doing the work to make it our own, celebrating holidays and gatherings with friends, cements a place in the heart. We will miss it and all the personal touches that made it ours. But we were ready to move on.
We went from 4,000 square feet to 2,600 square feet. Clearly, we had to get rid of a lot of stuff. And we had to organize this move ourselves. There were no moving angels from the corporate relocation company. We are thankful for sons and the sons of friends and young friends with strong backs and pickup trucks. And for the professionals who moved the piano and the really heavy furniture.
For the six weeks leading up to the move it seemed daunting; impossible, even. As I walked form room to room I discovered still more stuff hidden in drawers and cupboards, under beds, on windowsills. I thought I had been absolutely ruthless in sorting and donating duplicate and extraneous stuff, and yet we still had boxes and boxes to pack and move.
Still, when moving day came it all went into the trucks, got unloaded into the garage at the new house and is slowly starting to fill the corners and occupy the walls at the new place that is beginning to take shape as a real home.
And this view is worth all the hassle. On clear mornings we awake to a panorama of the Continental Divide in all its snowcapped grandeur.
We have nearly an acre for our big dog. My husband has a wonderful workshop, and come spring I can do some serious gardening.
In a few days we’ll trim the tree in anticipation of our first Christmas in this new home. What a gift!
— By Colleen Conant
Conant, the former editor of the Camera in Boulder, retired after a 35-year career in newspaper journalism. She’s currently on the staff of the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County.
