FAREWELL EMMARENTIA

October 1st, 8:15 am. Moving Day.

Every single item we own was boxed and ready to go. We were ready. Grace, our domestic helper, was busy wiping down counters so that we left the place in the best shape possible. Flowers and chocolates were in place for the new owners.

So where was Sean the Mover who had been booked and triple-confirmed for 8am???

I called, “Stuck in traffic, “ was his reply. I thought, “Ok, it’s the one day of the month he makes all his money, so he squeezed in another job before ours.” No problem. 9:30 am. Still no mover. When he stopped answering calls, I sent him a text. “Delayed until noon, but could possibly arrive at 11:30.” I believed him. Glen and Grace were moving delicate items in the Landy while I waited……. By early afternoon, he was not answering his phone, stopped returning text messages and his voicemail was full. That cursed house was not going to let us exit gracefully!

The new owners were coming by to pick up keys at 2pm. Panic rising, I resolved to call every mover in town until I could find someone who could get us moved that afternoon. As I walked onto the porch, laptop under my arm to start the task, there was my Beloved going through the Yellow Pages doing exactly the same thing! If we are anything, we are in sync.

After only a few calls, an angelic man named Heinrich said he had a truck finishing a job and could be at our place by 5pm. By 8:30pm, they had us completely moved into our new place. May blessings reign down on him and his crew!

Before heading to the new place to hang curtains in our very exposed bedroom windows (while Glen stayed to supervise the move), I walked through the Emmarentia house one last time. The only phrase going through my head, was “Fuck you, Eileen!” She had left us a disaster but Glen had triumphed though a great real estate deal. It was just payback for the nearly five years of unnecessary divorce agony she had put him through. Surely this was the final page of that chapter.

By the way, that wretched Sean Naidoo never did show up. May his tires always be flat.