Moving When You Are "Older"

More on the move of Karen, 66 years old, and Ruth, 99 years old. We moved from Ashland, Oregon to Portland, Oregon and I for one (Karen) learned lots about myself, about the logistics of moving and much more. I want to share with you some of the ways that I was able to make the actual process of packing and moving a little easier.

First rule; get rid of everything you possible can. I really mean that from bottom of my toes! Have a yard sale, donate to shelters, churches, organizations like Goodwill, and my personal favorite, the "FREE" sign in front of my house. My discards were like a treasure to many people and the smiles and gratitude were really worth so much. Often times I would put a listing on Craig's List for the free things I had in front of the house and not long after it hit the Internet, people would appear to take the things with them.

Another helpful reminder is to accept the offer to help pack your things. Many friends will step up and say, "what can I do to help?" so let them know, don't be shy. My rowing club friends came over one afternoon, brought some take out food, and a bottle of wine( well, a couple of bottles) and we packed my entire kitchen! We had so much fun, and it was such a huge help to me. By the way, if you are a rower, and ever find yourself in Ashland Oregon, look up the club and they will be happy to have you join them for a row. www.ashlandrowingclub.org

Then hire some pros to help you pack your truck, van, POD or whatever mode of transportation you are using. Save your back! They also know how to do it perfectly so that your possessions are safe, and you can use much less space that by trying to do it yourself, no matter how good you think you are. I know this can get to be a little expensive, but if you can possibly do it, it is money well spent. Siskiyou Movers in Ashland are brilliant, and can pack like putting together a puzzle. 2 Brothers Moving in Portland unpacked us, and they are fast, efficient and went the extra mile by setting up beds for us.

You have choices depending on your moving situation as to what kind of transportation you will use. I chose to use PODS, because I was not sure if I would have to store things before my new house would be available. This is a great feature, as you can store the container as long as you need and don't have to rush to get it unloaded and back before another day's charge is added on. PODS was pretty efficient, not perfect, but all in all they were the right choice. I would just suggest keeping in touch with the main call center to confirm the arrival, pick up, etc.
And if you have pets, ( have a dog and two cats) remember this is a stressful time for them as well. I moved my sweeties in my car on the day I left Ashland. Several days before our take off, I had placed their crates in the house with comfy blankets and kept the door open. The cats especially loved to wander in and out and finally started sleeping in them. So, by the time I was ready to travel the 5 hours up the freeway, they were used to their traveling crates. Keep in mind if it is at all warm outside, even 68 to 70, you cant leave them in the car for more than a couple of minutes when you stop to get something to eat or use the restroom. I had packed some lunch for myself and so when I stopped to get gas mid way, I gave Max, my dog, a potty break and some water and off we went to our new home.

Planning, accepting the help offered, taking care of your back,all will help you have a positive experience moving.

Hoarding and Seniors

I have mentioned that when it was time for my 99 year old aunt Ruth to face moving to Portland, well, just let me say the hoarding personality came out loud and strong! I admit that it was a challenging process to let go of things that had been in my life for many years. And so when I got so much resistance from my auntie, I tried to be sensitive about it and let her stay in charge as much as possible.

Of course if you are one of those people who get to live to this ripe old age of 99, you can imagine the the amount of "collectibles" you would accumulate. One of my aunts hobbies is photography and creating albums and scrapbooks. A very honorable hobby, and one that all of her family has benefited from. But, she will tell you that she started taking photos when she was thirteen years old and had a little Brownie box camera. Well, she has saved every single photo, and negative from that day on! Plus, she has created many albums of her travels and the family, enough for a room of their own.

She is also a very sentimental person and if you gave her a plant from the florist in 1963, you can be sure she has saved the vase it came in.............because "you" gave it to her. so, when it was time to pack, we talked about priorities and our goal in moving and the great benefit of getting to live closer to all the people we love. So, I will say she got very brave and gave away her couch (a huge thing) and she felt very proud of that. She realized that going to an assisted living facility, she wouldn't be needing many kitchen things so she gave those to my cousin who could use them. But, really that is where it stopped and all I could say to her is "we will get what we can in the POD (more about PODS later) and when it is full, then that will be that. We cant afford another POD." Well fortunately, our movers were brilliant and able to get everything in the POD. If you are moving to or from Ashland, Oregon , Siskiyou Movers are fantastic!

I have read about the hoarding personality and I do know that it is more prevalent with seniors, but there is help available. Two organizations that can assist you are; National Association of Professional Organizers www.napo.net and Nation Association of Senior Move Managers www.nasmm.org One thing I believe has helped my family keep my aunt's hoarding in control is that we hired a very competent house keeper to come in weekly to clean and clear her house.

I have many more tales of moving in retirement years, so tune in later.

Karen

The Art of Letting Go

When my 99 year old aunt and I decided to move from Ashland, Oregon to Portland, Oregon, I had no idea I would learn so much about myself. I learned the value of letting go. Letting go of material stuff is what I mean. I have always loved garage sales, and old things that I knew I could do something with at some time. I have subscribed to sentimental reasons for hanging on to something pretty useless, like a rock or a thread bare skirt. But faced with packing and moving (not to mention the cost involved) all these prize possessions, I started to ask myself why? I learned that it is truly a process, not something that one can come to overnight. When i put my house on the market, I went through my house and "de-cluttered", as requested by my real estate broker. I rented a storage unit, and thought I was doing a great job by stashing things that I really liked and/or needed, while giving away loads and loads of other things.

I started to put a "free" pile in front of my house, and made my way to Goodwill many times. I really was proud of myself. Well, as I have whined about several times in this blog, it took 14 long months for my house to sell. When it did, the buyer wanted a 30 day closing and so I had to hustle to get myself packed up. So, I went to the storage unit to retrieve those "necessities" I had stored all those months. When I started to unpack it all, I was amazed that most of the things I had felt unwilling to let go of, suddenly didn't mean anything to me. Something had definitely shifted and I will tell you that about 85% of the contents in the storage unit found new homes.

I had been paying $45 a month for 14 months rent, that is $630! And I really did not have to do that. But, during those long months, I had been searching my soul for more understanding of myself and what my priorities in life are, and I think that had more to do with the letting go than anything. the material items were simply a symbol of my unresolved "life questions". So, in retrospect, I guess you could say that the $630 was spent on my own therapy.

I believe that Seniors, and retired people are more vulnerable to hanging on to things,and there is research to back that up. I will share more with you on this issue later. And wait till you hear about the "Queen of Keeping Everything"..............my Aunt Ruth!