I had to take a day off work today to help my parents move their stuff from the house to their new condo. They’ve been packing for this day, but when I arrived at their house this morning I found them rather unprepared. They really only planned on sending the big items with the movers, and leaving the smaller things to be picked up at a later time. They made sure they had this luxury by choosing a move date mid-month, and leaving the rest of the month as a transition time. That’s all well and good, except that they still had a lot of small things lying around in and around the big things. How the heck they expected the movers to pick up the big items while they were still loaded is sort of beyond me. The whole situation reminded me of the time we all moved from North York over to Scarborough. That one move was entirely one of the worst moves ever because we were entirely unprepared. More than half of everything was unboxed. The movers were clearly frustrated and didn’t treat my parents all that well. That bad experience led me to make sure that everything I needed to move when I was moving to my condo was boxed and ready to go. That move was entirely quick and painless. For my parents’ move though, I was fearing the worst.

I didn’t want things to be in entirely bad shape, so I was scrambling all over their house to get as much as I could in order. I emptied out cabinets, and rearranged things so that the movers could have easy access. All this time, my parents didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned. Oh man, that bothered the heck out of me. What if I wasn’t there? Would they have left things as is? What if they ended up with another mover with a nasty attitude? Of course I was worried. Well, I worked my ass off right up until the movers came. To my relief, my initial assessment of the movers was a good one. They seemed like they wouldn’t take advantage of my parents, so I was comfortable leaving them alone. I drove over to my parents’ new condo and waited. God, that was a long time. I actually napped on the couch for a few hours just waiting for them to arrive. Apparently they took a long time loading up the truck. I was worried.

When the truck arrived, my father came in and told me to get ready. I got off the couch and started anticipating things. Ooh, there sure was a heck of a lot of stuff. My dad seemed to not want to let go of a lot of furniture, despite the fact that they were downsizing. My father consistently told me that he measured the big pieces of furniture and that he was sure everything would fit. There were many moments where the movers and I shared a laugh over his insistence on making things fit. There were many tight squeezes all over. In the end, yeah, things fit, but there really needs to be a lot of organization.

I’m glad that my parents are downsizing, because they really do not need a big house for themselves. They’re now empty-nesters that deserve to have a more relaxed lifestyle. I would imagine that this move will be their last, so at the very least they won’t have to go through this moving hell again. This time they were fortunate with the movers who must have had a bit of respect for these elderly folk. I know that they’ll be able to get everything organized, but it won’t be without a bit of struggle. The next two weeks will be rough, but I’m sure they’ll enjoy it. Normalcy is something off in the distance, but they’re patient and hardworking. Everything will work out; I’m sure of it.