Bubble Wrap It!

A few minutes ago, I opened a package, and the object inside was wrapped in bubble wrap plastic. My wife couldn’t understand why I got excited! I just spent the past couple weeks in the states clearing out my folks’ house of over 60 years of their lives together, to get it ready to sell. Any fragile things that were saved were wrapped in bubble wrap. We used lots of it!!
I was so thankful that my sister Pat came down from up north and Natali came over from Ann Arbor to help for that time. It is hard to imagine clearing out sixty years plus (many items going back to Mom and Dad’s early life). 58 years of Reader’s Digests and Condensed Books, 61 years of National Geographic magazines hidden away in closets and the basement; clothes, furniture, dishes, antiques, food (5 pounds of six month old potatoes!), Christmas decorations, boxes, trunks, bags filled with stuff from the Philippines and Brazil and other stuff that hadn’t been opened in years - trip diaries, old family pictures…the list seems almost as endless as things that were there. That was just the first floor and basement (boy, did we cough and sneeze in the basement)!

Before traveling up I would wake up in the night and think of things there, especially in the basement, and break out in a cold sweat! Getting there, it was worse than I had ever imagined, both with things and sweat!!

The upstairs apartment was filled with more stuff as it had been used by Sue and me on our last furlough, then Natali and Aaron, and Joel and his wife Lynne, during the intervening years. We won’t even go into the two-stall garage and all Dad’s army gear!

We were so thankful when Mom and Dad moved into a retirement home in Grand Rapids this past April, and it has worked out well for them. Mom continues in their apartment and Dad is now in the assisted care living facility. But something had to be done with the house, so up I went.

Mom enjoys her apartment.It was still one of those bitter-sweet trips. Tough days at the house (we even slept there), long hours of work (starting around nine in the morning and ending between one and two in the morning), but then fun times with my kids Joel and Natali (as well as talking long distance with Aaron), times with my grandson Jordan who’s growing up and a cutie, and my sister Pat, Birthday parties (daughter-in-law Lynne’s and my mom’s – 95 years for her), a great trip to the ups and downs of Cedar Point amusement park for a day, getting to see Pat’s cabin in the woods, watching some Olympics and short visits with Mom and Dad.

We did get it all done in the time I was able to be there. Along with Natali and Pat, I am thankful for Jackie, Vicky, and Phil who were an incredible help in this whole process. We’d still be working now if it wasn’t for the way they pitched in. But now it’s done, and what wasn't sold or thrown or carried away is in storage.

Cedar Point trip

Lynne's birthday.






Grandma's 95th Birthday

For the first time, Sue and I celebrated our wedding anniversary apart – 35 years – but we’re taking a trip to celebrate next week.
Pat's cabin in the woods

Picnic time

The last night with Jordan - He crawls, climbs, loves to laugh and even waves good-bye!

But now it’s done, I’m back home for a couple days to get clothes washed and rest up a little before heading out again.
I’ve got to go find something to wrap up in this bubble wrap.