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How to make a smooth
move
- Making the big move to Mountain
Meadows from a home in which you’ve lived for years, raised your
children and accumulated "tons of stuff" can be a frightening
prospect. But talk to those who’ve done it and you’ll hear it’s
not that hard - if you keep a cool head, plan well and work
steadily without overdoing it. Before you know it, you’ll be
living in a new era of simplicity, fun and freedom.
- Here are some tips from Mountain
Meadows residents who’ve been there:
- Let go. Don’t think you can or
should do it all. Don’t think you can or should do it all in a few
days or even weeks. Don’t think you can or should keep all those
things you’ve collected over decades. Remember, the really
important things are the ones in your heart. And in the photo
albums.
- Delegate jobs. Hand things over to
the next generation. Call the kids to come get what they really
want. Ask them for help packing the big things and moving and
driving them to where they go. They’ll be honored to do it.
- Do some of the job every day,
starting immediately after you’ve made the decision to move. Don’t
wait until the house is sold. Houses can sell awfully fast
sometimes. Ask resident Mary Hoxie, who with her husband Wes, sold
their house of 24 years in one day, leaving them only a few weeks
to move!
- Your job is to pack the little
things in boxes. Label them well! It may be weeks or months before
you open some of them and nothing’s more aggravating than
searching through boxes. Let the kids and other strong persons
handle the big things. If you’ve been a member of a service
organization for years, now is the time to call on their help,
said Gale Varrelmann, who with his wife Jane, moved here last May
from Paradise, Calif. If you’re leaving your area to get here,
it’s a great way to say goodbye to friends.
- Have a big yard sale, of course.
The kids will love to staff it for you. Price things to move, not
to make money, said Esther Merriman, who with her husband Lee
moved off their Ashland ranch after 42 years. She warns, "You
haven’t the faintest idea how much stuff you can collect in those
years until you start pulling it out." Call the auctioneer to take
the more valuable things, especially antiques. They fetch good
money at auction - more than at a yard sale. If you're local, try
Red Barn and Leslie Freeman, both in Talent. An on-site auction
may work best if you have lots of things. The rest goes to the
church rummage sale or Goodwill.
- Get a storage unit. It takes a lot
of the pressure off to know you can take the extra time finding a
place for those hardest-to-part-with things, said Jane. Mountain
Meadows staff can tell you the best ones.
- If you're local, bring over a
little at a time in your car or pickup and gradually fill the new
home up, said Lee. It smoothes the transition.
- When you move in, put the bed up
first. Then you have a place to plop down and rest as you work.
- Don’t panic, said Wes. Yes, it’s a
big job, but you can do it smarter, not harder. Make a list of
everything that needs to be done, but don’t look at the whole list
at one time. Break the list into small pieces and nibble them down
until they’re gone.
- Get ready for some emotions as you
make the big change, but remember, it’s smart you’re doing this
while you’re healthy and able, said Mary.
- Finally, keep in mind that this is
a time of liberation and freedom such as you’ve probably only
dreamed about. After all, who toughed out the Depression, won
World War II and put their hearts into raising the Baby Boom
generation? It’s time for that big vacation! In the words of Lee
Merriman, "it’s the best thing that ever happened to us, having
that big yard sale and moving to a smaller, easier to manage
place.
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