Moving

Moving and stress seem to be synonymous. When people move whether it is a short move or a long move there always seem to be stress. In my case we are moving a 2800 square foot house into a 400 square foot storage space and two of our dear friend's garages. Which all told adds up to be 800 square foot of storage and more stress.

Over the years we have accumulated a great deal of stuff. When my wife and I first moved from New Jersey to Las Vegas some 12 years ago we had one car; 10 boxes, family room furniture and a bed. When we moved from Las Vegas to Southern California (here) we had a 2100 square foot house with four bedroom sets, kitchen set, the same family room furniture, china closet and some 60 boxes along with other assorted children's toys and playsets. Now five years later as we depart this house we have even more stuff but the same family room furniture (I wonder why that is??). Now I know why people stay in one place for years!!!

We are moving the contents of our house into a storage facility out here in Southern California and three of the four inhabitants are moving almost 3,000 miles away to live with family. I am the only one who will be staying behind because I am a legally obligated to serve my time and hopefully this can start on July 12th of next month. I do get the pleasure of driving with my family across the country so we can get the children situated in New Jersey. All of the moving should be completed by next Thursday and our plans are to depart here a week from this coming Friday.

We will take our time driving across the country and stop and see some very good friends in Las Vegas where I also hope to take in a Las Vegas Gamblers Anonymous meeting. I am very curious to see a meeting in this town and I will set aside some time in order to attend at least one meeting. After spending a few days in Las Vegas visiting our friends we will head to Denver to see my younger sister and her family. It is about a 12 hour drive from Las Vegas which we hope to complete in one day. The children will have their fill of movies on the drive and I know my daughter will be able to occupy her time in a positive manner. My son on the other hand maybe a different story but I am sure everything will work out fine.

After spending a few days with my sister in Denver we will embark on a 25 hour drive towards New Jersey. I am not sure how much driving we will be doing in one day but we will try and shoot for somewhere between 10 and 12 hours. This should put us in New Jersey in time for the fourth of July holiday where there are plenty of summer picnics to attend. Also; my daughter really wants to see some good fireworks because last year she was severely disappointed as we stayed here in Southern California and didn't seek out the fireworks show. Hopefully, we will be able to satisfy her fireworks craving.

Getting back to the moving; yes, moving in and of itself is very stressful but this situation is somewhat more horrifying because I caused all this misery on my wife and children. My wife has been nothing short of spectacular while she has been packing up each of the rooms. She has enlisted a few of her dear friends and I know of one very special friend who is coming back tomorrow to help her box up more stuff. We have some incredible friends and I am amazed or actually blown away by the tremendous amount of giving that has been bestowed upon my family. I will keep saying this because it is so true; these are GREAT people and I am forever in their debt. I have not witnessed this much kindness and generosity ever in my life. They are all great friends.

The plan is to keep our things in storage until we figure out how long I will be "away" then a determination will be made by my wife as to what is the best course of action. Right now we cannot make any firm decisions. We can only plan for the worse which is why my family will be residing in New Jersey and if it isn't so bad we will see what makes sense financially and emotionally.

Yes, I was hoping to have a few months "under my belt" by now but that wasn't the case. I cannot control any of this and I look upon each day as a blessing. I will continue looking at each day as a blessing no matter where I am because each day is truly a blessing. I am so very happy to have found a place where I can recover from a very debilitating addiction. I didn't know how to recover up until fifteen and half months ago when I entered that Gamblers Anonymous meeting for the first time. Now I know to do the things that are suggested in the GA Program each and every day of my life and one of them is looking at each day as a blessing.

One of those blessings came tonight at the GA Speakers Meeting. We had a speaker with a little less than a year in the Program and I have been skeptical of this person for awhile but I was pleasantly shocked by their story. There is so much power in this Program and I will never judge a book by its cover because inside are so many different stories with the same theme; gambling stole my life and now I am trying to get it back. I know this was true for myself and I am so grateful to get back my life without gambling in it. This is a great life with great blessings which I enjoy each and everyday.