Well, here we are - at 'home' in our new house. A lot of packing and unpacking and sorting and moving finally brought us here, and we are getting 'settled in.' What we seemed to overlook, is that things were going to get pretty unsettled in the 2 miles we moved from our old house. While moving can lead to a lot of decluttering, it can also reveal a lot of emotions that hadn't been discovered, yet.
As part of the move, I hoped some new form of organization would take place as we all packed our stuff and brought it to its new place in our new home. What really happened is a lot of stuff got crammed into boxes, and now we're still not sure where some stuff is. Now, granted, if we have gotten along without for the past 3 months, we can probably get along without it. Period. But, winter is still to come, and I'm sure we'll continue to here "Where is my...?"
Moving a family is a lot like transplanting a plant - there will be stress because some of the roots get left behind, but if properly cared for, it can thrive in its new location. There are some plants that don't transplant very well, so be careful and prepare for some additional stress when you move.
As someone who does work to preserve some of our family history, I encourage you during any of your moves to spend some time before you move honoring the place you are leaving. Start a new scrapbook or journal about the times you have enjoyed (and maybe even not enjoyed) in that place. Give everyone the chance to do this on their own, but also have a shared project for all this to come together. I say this now, after we have moved and did not do this with our troupe. It might still be soon enough after to look back and do the same thing.
It is still amazing to me that our ancestors brought their entire family here from across the Atlantic to a land completely foreign to them. What faith it took to do that - what strength it took as a family to get through it.
