Trent moved into an apartment in Indianapolis. Once his job let him know that he could stay remote, he orchestrated his departure. We moved him into his new digs last weekend. Last Friday, I did a victory dance in the halls of the high school where I work, complete with cheerleader lunges, claps, and poorly executed jumps. Fortunately, there were only a couple adults (and maybe a couple curious students who happen to be walking by) to witness my display. I was chanting, “GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLL!!!” Isn’t this the goal? To get our kids through school, employed, and independent? I refrained from taking a victory lap around the halls… mostly because I don’t run. 

So, last weekend, Travis and I filled Bert (the SUV of questionable origin) and Trent’s midsize SUV and caravaned to Indianapolis. I was extremely happy that he was on the first floor. Well, sort of happy, since the first floor isn’t as secure of a living space, but it’s WAY easier to move into. The actual moving was a little rough on the old body, and I rarely did the heavy lifting. We even helped his new roommate, Griffin, move his big items (couch, bed) from his old one bedroom across the ample complex, over to the new place. So that’s three couches and two queen beds, along with all the other stuff. A couple twisted backs, a couple doors to the face, a couple forgotten items (Trent, did you bring towels? No? Interesting!) and our part of the job was done.

After the move-in was relatively complete, we took Griffin and Trent out for lunch at a cool marketplace walking distance from the apartment. Since it was raining for much of the move in (yay!), we drove to the marketplace. After lunch, it was off to Sam’s Club to fill the cupboards, and to buy some towels and a new mattress for his bed. Did you know that the Sam’s Club in Indianapolis doesn’t have twine at the loading zone. That’s fun to find out when you have to strap a mattress to the roof of the car. So, we were the people driving through a section of Indianapolis on Saturday, in the rain, with a mattress strapped to the roof of Bert. We made sure to buy one that didn’t have any holes in the plastic wrap.

Things went mostly as expected, although Travis didn’t expect it to take ALL day. He needs to come along on more college moves! The unexpected happened on the way home. I was overcome with emotion. I was crying on and off for two and a half hours. Travis didn’t seem to know what to do with this new beast that was his wife. I’ve said it before, I am not usually the one crying at the milestones. Well, I didn’t used to be. When I dropped my kids off at Kindergarten for the first time, I was usually doing the victory dance (with a mimosa in hand), not lingering around the school teary-eyed. But Saturday, I felt the cosmic shift in my little world. Would the six of us ever live under one roof again? My real life job of raising kids is at the beginning of the end. I know it never really ends, but there are BIG shifts, and this felt big to me. After thirty years of marriage, Travis finally seemed stumped on how to handle me. I am usually exuberant, over-the-top, a little crazy, not this simpering marshmallow. He could handle the usual Jo. So, we drove the entire time in relative silence, listening to country music on pandora. Even Travis seemed emotional, although he didn’t say it, mostly because I was incapable of conversation. I was so shocked by my uncontrolled emotion that I didn’t want to talk. Now, that’s unusual. 

So, hug those little ones. If you do things right, they will leave you to move on to better things. It’s the job with a forced retirement. Have a great week everyone!

(Afternote: Pray for Uvalde. This was partially written, so I decided to finish it, since I don’t even know how to address the events in Texas. Love one another.)