My building has six units..the three on the west side received extensive damage, while the three of us on the east side had various forms of minor damage. All the air conditioners were lost, as they were on the roof. While awaiting word from the various insurance companies, we all continued to live in our units.. but by week’s end, the odor was getting stronger and stronger, as the water continued to seep down to the lower levels. I awoke one morning and opened my eyes to see water standing in the bedroom light fixture above my head. Finally on Thursday of that week, the news was passed around that we would all have to move out of our units…everything had to go….
John and Sue, Dave, Reen, Keeley and Cleone, worked all weekend packing me up… We rented a storage shed to hold my household possessions.
Where would I move to? It was the week of the College World Series and there wasn’t a spare room in the city, so it was decided I would go to John’s house… We initially thought we’d do the move ourselves, but it soon became obvious there was an awful lot to move…boxes, heavy furniture, etc..and it all had to go up a set of stairs to get out the door. Sue called Two Men and a Truck and booked them for the following Monday. Dave told me to try to concentrate on what I would need for the next few weeks, but in the end, it all seemed to get packed up and moved to storage… I now find that I have two of everything I don’t much need, and none of what I do need!
After the College World Series folk left town, we found an extended-stay motel to rent by the week, and so on Tuesday, June 24, I moved into that. It’s about a mile from John & Sue’s house and in a part of Millard that I’m familiar with. Those first few days were pretty bleak in my ‘studio’ apartment… flourscent lighting, a not-very-cozy chair, a two-burner stove, no dishwasher….nothing to do… Now, after 10 days, we’ve managed to make it seem a little more like home with the addition of a lamp and a recliner from John & Sue’s house… I’ve been eating a lot of evening meals with them, and it certainly helps to break up the day. My mail is being held at the Millard Post Office, so once I week I go there to retrieve it…and I make a lot of trips to the grocery store and keep hauling more and more stuff into the motel…
Then, last Thursday, another crisis… It all began when I realized I had broken out a front tooth on my top dentures, thereby compromising my natural beauty, and making me the object of hilarious remarks from son John, who thought I resembled a hillbilly!
I called Sue to tell her the latest news…I couldn’t even find the name of my dentist, since, once again, everything I need seems to be in storage. I lamented to her that I had an old set but they were in my dresser drawer…in storage!! I had to drive to the dentist’s office to talk to them and see if it could be fixed. The office gal was properly sympathetic and made an appointment for me for Monday.
By the time I talked to Sue again, she had decided that if I thought the spare set was in the top left drawer of the dresser, in the storage shed, then we should try to find it. So the rescue team drove to the storage complex….two warriors, sons John and Dave, organizer-daughter-in-law Sue, and gap-toothed Mom.
And the search began. The door of the storage garage was thrown up to reveal furniture and boxes piled to the rafters. Boxes were generally labeled, but many were facing the wrong way… I was enthroned on one of my own lawn chairs (that was packed in the storage shed) in the driveway, while Sue kept busy opening and re-sealing various boxes in the hope of finding other things I had been looking for. We did come across my favorite instant coffee and a box of old necklaces…The men clambered up the side of the mountain of furniture, boxes, miscellaneous containers, loose garments and objects, digging ever deeper into the history of my life!
John asked what the dresser looked like.what color wood, etc. and asked ‘Could this be it…see that’s where the mirror would fit?” I fought my way to the site and “yes, maybe that’s it.” But the piece was wedged in tightly, facing backwards of course, and it would take more moving to get the front of the drawer opened. So I went back to my ‘throne’ in the driveway and the excavating went on.
And then a shout erupted from the depths of the storage shed! “Here it is!....this is it!!” And the container was waved in the air while all searchers echoed the cry.
And now I can smile again, thanks to an exciting and successful denture search! And tomorrow morning I have that appointment with the dentist!
As for the condo....
we hear that this week the air-control people are to be in the building, making sure everything is sealed up and any mold has been eradicated....
That is apparently expected to take most of this week. New windows and new carpet are both on order...items that have needed replacing for some time...David plans to repaint the walls for me, once we're ready for that... I'll keep you all posted...Aunt Margery
No comments:
Post a Comment