After moving to Tunisia, staying four months and then packing up and moving to Dubai, I am probably lucky to have any household goods arrive at all. That container could have fallen off the ship. All my stuff could have been lost or stolen while it sat in storage for four months. But it didn't. Last week, it arrived here.
As the movers helped us unpack, we uncovered a lot of broken things. A LOT.
We had more breakage with this move than with any other move in our lives. It was frustrating. Each time I picked up a wad of paper and could tell that what was inside was rattling and sounding like shards of glass, I knew that some other piece of what I owned was busted.
It was kind of interesting in a sad, sad way. The majority of things that were broken were 25th wedding anniversary presents. I should preface this by saying that DH and I eloped. So we didn't have any elaborate china or crystal at the beginning of our marriage. We had a big 25th wedding anniversary party and folks gave us a lot of the lovely serving pieces and decorative pieces that you think of as wedding gifts. Cut glass candle holders, hand painted serving bowls. Lots of lovely things.
And the breakage tally included a high volume of those anniversary gifts. For some reason, it really made me sad. Each time I opened or was handed a busted piece so I could take digital photos of the item and the box number it came out of, a little piece of me grieved. It's not like losing the stuff negates 25 years of marriage, right? It's just stuff. Nice gifts that I truly enjoyed for the past seven years. Now they're gone. Basically irreplaceable--not the stuff, the memory of the gift. I can buy another one, close to the original but it won't be the gifted item anymore, will it?
It's a little strange but I'm so thankful that we didn't have MORE damage than we did. We moved clear around the globe. I'm thankful that we got ANY of our stuff. For a while, I didn't think it would ever be cleared out of Tunisia.
So breakage and bustedness is documented and will be claimed for insurance purposes. Life goes on. I've found a place for most of this stuff. Now I'm close to being completely settled. Just a couple more boxes.
--Sandee Wagner
4 comments:
Remember that flawed watch and how it's representative of your love?? Well, now's the time to compare the tangible reminders to the intangible reality.
The reminders of your love are physical and therefore fragile, but the love you have is intangible and therefore unbreakable...
Emm,
That's true. But it doesn't mean your heart doesn't break when the tangible reminders get trashed. I'm trying to be a grown up about this... we had a lot more breakage than a normal move... spw
I'd put some of those broken pieces in a big glass jar and set it on a shelf. It's not the same as having a bowl or a wineglass, but just seeing it would bring back the memories.
What a shame the packers didn't pack better.
Marilyn,
The leaded glass/crystal candle holder was the heartbreaker. It was really nice and sparkly when I put a candle in it and burned it.
I'm okay with the memories of the things. I'm not sure it wouldn't BOTHER me more to have shards of glass reminders. Better to just remember the nice party and the wonderful gifts!! spw
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