It's been more than 17 years since I packed up my last home, married and moved into my husband's house. Moving was such a massive and exhausting job that I swore I'd never do it again.
But that hasn't stopped me from helping my BFF move six, count 'em six times, over the years. That's what friends are for, isn't it.
For the past two weeks we've packed, painted (and painted and painted and painted), schlepped carloads of possessions, directed movers for placement of the big stuff, painted some more, and unpacked her new home. And we still have miles to go before we sleep. Did I mention there's a lot of painting to do-- As in every surface of the entire house, some with as many as four coats of paint to cover the previous owner's love of very dark colors.
And it's going to be great when it's finished!
My BFF is a single, working mom of a young teenager-- my godson. This is the first home she has ever purchased and it's exciting and stressful all at the same time. She made a very smart purchase on a great house, albeit it paint-color-challenged, and I have no doubt they will live blissfully in what is really the perfect home for them.
She was pretty nervous about the move to a new neighborhood worrying that she'd be out of the loop for her friends to visit but that is far from the case. Every step of the painting way, gal pals have come out of the woodwork (No pun intended, but if you'd like to paint some there's plenty!) to help.
Bringing potted plants, casseroles and libations, gal pals have rallied around our friend to celebrate her new homeowner status. Every woman who crossed the threshold offered to paint, scrub or unpack to help make a dent in the task at hand. It brought heart-felt laughter, commodore and positive vibes to the home that filled Mom and son with joy you could actually see on their faces.
One afternoon, just after the move but with more boxes full then empty, Godson's school was dismissed at 12:30 so I picked him up on the way to a fast food run. When I explained to him that we needed to make a drive-thru detour for the houseful of mother hens back at the hacienda, his face lit up at the idea of "company" to "break in" their new pool-side patio furniture.
Upon arrival at his new home, Godson immediately went into "man of the house" mode and passed out burgers and fries to the all female gang and chatted everyone up about the joys of home ownership-- Which was actually thinly disguised as a pitch-- aimed at his mother-- for a new puppy.
The thing is, although they've known one another for countless years, some of these women have been email or Facebook pals with BFF but because life gets so busy sometimes, they haven't actually seen each other in way too long. All that changed when the home purchase was announced.
What was once a daunting task became a happy reunion between friends who rolled up their sleeves, pitched in, and reminded BFF that "girl power" is alive and well no matter where she lived and that they were only a phone call away. This knowledge renewed BFF's spirit and cheered her on through the emotional roller coaster of the process.
It reminded me of the importance of friendship and face-to-face contact too. I'm guilty of relying on email more than I pick up the phone to make a personal connection and I'll be working on that in the future-- Especially now that a landline with a speaker phone has been installed at their new house. I can talk hands-free.... and paint!
And that's a good thing because I'm pretty sure the paint color we put up in the dining room (all three coats of it) is going to be changed.
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins
PS I've been reading you all and catching up but thanks to Blogger's recent meltdown I wasn't able to leave comments. I'll be around again soon.
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