Sam had been working for a company back home from early Spring on till Fall/Winter. We had known the option was there to take work traveling with the company. He even did an interview in May. Nothing. Ok, then as they say "When God closes one door...", so we assumed this option was out and that was that. In late October Sam got a call regarding the job. We assumed it would be an interview face to face. Umm..nope....it was an offer for work. I think I just stared at Sam after he got of the phone and said "Denver? They want us to go to DENVER?" I'm still not sure whether that was excitement, shock, or disappointment. Maybe all of those. After some counsel with each other, friends and family and LOTS of prayer we made our decision in less than a week. Denver it was.
It was agreed that we could wait till after the holidays. However, a start date of January 8th was a bit too soon after the holidays for my taste. With quite a bit of disappointment, we resigned from our positions of leadership within our little home church. Many visits with family were made and a "make-shift" going away party was held the Saturday after Christmas. It was crowded and loud and filled with so much love from everyone. Belated Christmas gifts and going away presents were exchanged.
I'm a "crunch time" kind of person. With toddlers though, "crunch time" has to take place a lot sooner than it should to allow for little people melt downs and bad days. I had 4 boxes packed up to the day we got our UHaul.... Sam picked it up on January 2nd (our 4th wedding anniversary. fun, right?). I think the 2nd was an absolute disaster day. On the 3rd, things didn't go much better but on the upside, it was much easier to pack when we could move boxes into the UHaul and out of our way inside. We are SO grateful for all our friends and family who came by to help. Sam was pretty sure it was them coming out of pity because I only packed 4 boxes (haha). When we move from CO to NJ in a few months, I'll certainly miss our drill sergeant, Annette! SHE was giving ME orders!
I refused to dwell on anything I packed. I attempted to be mostly business. I didn't want to think about what we would leave behind (especially out of the kids' toys), I didn't want to think about how empty our home was looking. I just wanted to get it done. Like ripping off a band-aid. On January 4th, our appointed leave time was about 1pm. Like most things, when left to DeMatteo Time, we were a bit late. I don't think we left till 4:30pm *eek*
I remember Sam wasn't in the greatest mood. Big storms were coming across the Midwest, he had to check pipes and all those necessities, we were late, and then there was the overall weight of responsibility to get his family across the country safely. Oh, and the carafe for his coffee pot smashed. Poor guy. Everyone had left at some point. My mom, 3 siblings, brother-in-law, niece and nephew were the last there. I remember our babies were in the van (that I would be driving). Everyone else was outside. Sam and I went in one more time and had a pretty good cry together. This was our HOME... where our babies were brought back to after birth, the first place we had together, many memories and dreams for its renovation. Let's not gloss over all the hard times too. Arguments, worrying over bills... Oddly, I treasure those memories too.
We said our goodbyes...cried a bit more...and headed down the driveway. I really wondered what it would all be like...and I followed the taillights of the UHaul back our little country road...
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| nearly "home". Eastern Colorado |
