Now reading

Moving house and surviving

Moving house and surviving | After the Heartbreak
Moving house and surviving

As I walked through my (our) house for the last time, my footsteps echoed in the empty rooms. The blue floral curtains I loved were still hanging at the windows and the mirrored alcove that Norbert had built looked strangely bare in the corner of the lounge room.

Carefully I laid out all the keys on the kitchen bench, slowly removing the final key to the front door from my key chain and adding it to the number. With tears in my eyes and my head filled with visions of ‘what might have been’, I walked to the front door and closed it behind me for the very last time.

As I said goodbye to the house where Norbert and I had lived together until he died, I asked myself…”Any regrets?

Closing the door behind me

No, no regrets. YES….it was a tough thing to do, but NO….not for a moment did I wish I could roll back the clock and make a different decision.

Some time ago now I wrote a post called How to Make Big Decisions where I explained how, after much angst, I finally reached the conclusion that selling the house was the right decision for me.

It might not be the decision that everyone makes (or should make), but it was the right one for me and there are a whole lot of good reasons why.

WHY WAS IT THE RIGHT DECISION??

Simply because the whole process of selling the house, finding another place to live and all the packing and cleaning and moving brought me to the edge of my physical, emotional and mental limits. It was utterly exhausting and during the weeks of effort that felt similar to running a major marathon, the thought kept running through my head….

Imagine if I was trying to do this in 5 or 10 years time? “Eeeeeek!!!

Old me in front of boxes
Could this have been the future me???? πŸ˜„

As I write this I am 65 years young (not old at all πŸ˜‹) but in 5 years time I’ll be over 70 and in 10 years…yes, OK, you can do the maths. Right now I am fit and healthy, but the sheer effort of packing and moving has left me so physically exhausted some days that I ached all over.

So YES, it was absolutely the right decision and I am grateful to little ol’ ME for making it, and not procrastinating and waiting until I’m really old! [pats herself on the back] πŸ€—

WHAT DID I LEARN?

I’m always grateful for ‘lessons learned’ on my life journey as these don’t just help me in the future, but sometimes they help others too….which is why I share them.

Apparently, moving house is number 3 in the top 5 stressful life events. Losing a loved one is number 1 so rolling one into the other has gotta be right up there for major stress! (Number 2 is divorce by the way 😏)

Anyway, hindsight is a wonderful learning tool so here’s what I’m grateful to have learned along the way, and what I’ll be taking forward.

Click/tap on the headings below…..

THE WRAP-UP

As usual I’ve made this post waaaay too long. One day I’ll learn how to write more succinctly! Hmmm….nah….. [grin]

This morning I got up early and walked up the hill next to my new house so I could watch the sun come up over the ocean. OK, it’s only a rental property and I have yet to find my ‘forever home’, but you know what? I feel so lucky.

See the yellow arrow? That’s my house πŸ™‚

I’m only halfway through this journey of finding a new home but I’m grateful to have got where I am, and I’m sure the next move will be easier because I’ve learned so much about moving house…and about myself.

Have you experienced a similar move…or maybe you are contemplating it? Please tell me about it in the Comment box below. I’d love to hear from you. πŸ’š


Marlene is an Australian widow who has written about all the good, bad and ugly stuff that happened after her husband Norbert died tragically. Marlene responds to all comments.

5 Comments
  • Lucy says:

    Good to see things have settled for now Marlene…. of course, we knew you could do it!! Nice to be close to the sea!! Take good care!! Lucy xx

    • Marlene says:

      Thanks for the comment Lucy….and also for the vote of confidence! πŸ™‚ There were times I wasn’t so sure of myself but I should have trusted that everything would work out. It seems to have a way of doing that.
      Cheers, Marlene

  • Melissa Coventry says:

    I hear you. I have this expectation that grief will happen. I don’t have a gang around for help but hopefully with the Grace of God, things fall into place .Thanks for the post, Marlene,

    • Marlene says:

      Hey Melissa, I’m not quite sure what you mean by ‘grief will happen’. I do agree with you though, that sometimes things just fall into place and maybe we need to trust more in God…or the universe…or some equivalent higher power. πŸ™‚
      Cheers, Marlene

  • Andrea Huntey says:

    Once again, you have expressed yourself wonderfully! Thanks for a great share!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.