The saga of moving

Some folks are perfectly content to reside in one location, one city and one house. That has not been the case for my wife and me. Since leaving Holyoke after high school five-plus decades ago, moving has been something that typifies my life. I relocated at least a half dozen times in college during my four years at Colorado State University, four times when I was single in the United States Air Force, and — since our marriage 48 years ago — Judy and I have moved somewhere around 23 times.

My employers generated some of the moves — the USAF for 20 years and Lockheed Martin Aerospace for over 20 years. However, in my “retirement” years, we continue to make moving an oft-occurring lifestyle. Most of the time, the moves have been perfunctory — sorting, tossing, packing, storing and all that goes with picking up one’s life and relocating it elsewhere. And, of course, there is the search for new doctors, dentists and all other businesses that must be done when moving any distance from your current location.

Then there are the “three R’s” of moving to a new state or country — rules, regulations and rigor. If my math serves me correctly, Judy and I have lived in 11 different states in America and also overseas — Germany — over the years, in apartments, houses or government facilities, and we have owned or rented eight homes in five states. Most moves have gone fairly smoothly; however, our recent (and, hopefully, last) move was a nightmare in several ways.

We made the decision to return to Texas after Judy and I spent 10 wonderful years in the Ouachita Mountains of western Arkansas — in the most enjoyable retirement community of Hot Springs Village. We chose to move again because we missed our son, Brian, and we also enjoyed 16 years of life in Fort Worth, Texas, during two eight-year stints. The process began to take shape about a year before the move, and I anticipated it would go very smoothly since I was a “well experienced” mover. I was wrong.

First of all, our five other homes we owned each sold in less than two weeks, so we confidently put our Arkansas home (arguably our nicest and most liked house) on the market six months before our new house in Texas was to be completed. Expecting our home to be sold quickly, we planned to rent something or to live with our son until we could move into our new home just west of Fort Worth.

The plan began to fall apart when sales in our retirement village slowed to a crawl. Though we made efforts to market the home, it remained unsold for six months before buyers finally came to our door. Meanwhile, our new home construction in Texas forged ahead smoothly, requiring us to close and take possession before our old home was sold, so for a time, we owned two houses — and the mortgages and bills associated with them!

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.