It was a cloudy morning and the sun imposed not to show up. I was worried that the gloomy weather would cripple our plans to move out. Alan and I headed out to the apartment and tackled the final inspection, put down the required fee, and got the keys. It was drizzling a tiny bit. While we were in the car, I kept on singing these words from my mouth: "Push the clouds away and let the sun come our way" in a tune of my own making. Magically, the fat dark clouds suddenly vanished and the sun gloriously revealed itself. Thank the Lord!
Upon stepping my foot inside the apartment, I took some time to soak up the moment. I stared at the white walls (1 free accent wall; Icelandic blue), smelled the new paint, felt the new carpet and hardwood floors. The room was blank like a canvass waiting to be filled with colors, waiting to be showered with life. While the place was impeccably bare and pristine, I gave myself a moment, took pictures and happily marveled at it's emptiness before chaos took over.
Then we stepped out and went to the U-haul store. Alan initially reserved a 17 ft. truck. However, we found it unavailable at that day and so they replaced it with a 20 ft. truck free of charge. Puzzled, Alan and I looked at each other as we asked ourselves, can we possibly drive this? Left with no choice and time constraint, Alan got in the driver's seat, said a prayer and carefully drove the truck and ourselves safely home.
When we got home around noon, we found our gracious friends waiting for us. My heart leaped for joy. To say they are our friends is an understatement. They are our brothers and sisters in our Christian faith and therefore, they feel like family! :)
At first, I thought we wouldn't be moving a lot of stuff. We weren't owning any furniture aside from our beds. But as people knew about our move, our boxes started to accumulate. My aunt Ida gave us a set of pretty dinner plates, salad plates and bowls that my Lola Meding bought when she worked in Bloomingdale's. My Lola bought all of her three daughters one set each. A pamana (heritage) we will forever treasure. My aunt also handed us utensils, serving dishes, baking dishes, and other glassware she would no longer need. My other grandmother, Lola Lou, who also moved in to a new place, handed us pots and pans. My mom also inherited my Lola and Lolo's beds and dressers. Lastly and the biggest piece we had to move was a glass dining table set given by my former manager's close friend, Cindy. I can never thank these people enough for their kindness and generosity towards us.
The following day, after church, we took some holy water to use in our simple house blessing in the evening. We invited our Ninong Butch and Ninang Ida to join us for dinner. Our Ninang Clair and Ninong Vic gifted us prayers and blessings to protect every corner of the apartment from every evil. We sprinkled every nook and cranny with holy water as we said our prayers.
We're glad that the weekend move went pretty well.
Day by day, like puzzle pieces, furniture, mirrors, paintings, lamps, rugs and all other bits and bobs seem to fit. As I am sitting in our white Ikea Ektorp couch (which by the way I got for a good deal from a garage sale!) I am still left in the surreal sense that this is now home.
PS: Thank you once again to my small group, especially to the Tonidos, Dilags, Abellanosas, Masons, and Ton-Leah. Thank you also to the Grutas, Ninong Butch, his brother Ronnie and my cousin Chris for all your help! We deeply appreciate the time and energy you put in on our move. And for all your best wishes and prayers, thank you so much! God bless you all!
xoxo,
Joselle
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