Handed down by:Kathy F. Harvey

The Move

Short. Short on time. Short notice.
In the last two weeks, Doug and I have been in a whirlwind of activity. We started our writing class on September 2. We helped our daughter Jill’s family move to Utah the very next weekend.

On Monday, August 24, 2009, our son-in-law, Mauricio, was flown to Utah for a second interview for a job - the first was by phone - at the University of Utah and was offered the job. Yippee. It means more money and a chance to do research on cardiac ablation. One of his "ins" for the job was being able to converse about ablation because I had two of the procedures in 2008, and he had been highly helpful and interested.

So with very short notice, Jill, Mauricio, and daughters - Afton - 3 and Isabel - 20 months - were moving to Utah. It's a good move for the family, but they are taking our granddaughters far away. In the two week period Jill found a nice townhouse, and they arranged for a large moving van.

Now, this move is good career-wise - it will give Mauricio an in for a residency when he passes the rest of his tests, he gets to travel - Germany the beginning of October, Jill will be able to take classes there with tuition help from the U of U, and they get out of the tiny three bedroom, one bath house in San Leandro that they shared with his grandmother.

Most of their things were stored in the garage, so they purged – “If we haven't used it in 14 months do we really need it?” - and started packing for the move.
How do Doug and I come into the story? Besides being heart broken at not seeing our granddaughters all of the time, we were the help to drive to Utah. On Thursday, September 3, I drove to San Leandro with my sister, Janet, so she could say goodbye to them and brought the girls back to spend the last two days with us and give their parents free time to pack and organize. I

It was fun and exhausting - that’s why we have children when we are young. The girls were wonderful, we spent time with other cousins, Owen, Alyson, and Tyson, who live nearby, and played in parks, read stories, and laughed.
Doug drove over to San Leandro Friday afternoon to help pack the moving van. Jack, another son, came over from Oakland after he got out of school to help. After the van was packed, a couple of guys from their ward showed up and helped with a little last minute cleaning.

Friday night - LATE - Jill and Mauricio arrived at our home with the moving truck packed, trailer on the back with the pickup, and their car full. Everyone bedded down to rest with dreams of miles of sagebrush and road dancing in their heads.
Saturday morning at 7:00 AM we loaded up and took off - Doug and I driving the moving van; Jill, Mauricio, and girls in the car. We stopped to stretch legs whenever the girls got squirrelly. At Winnemucca - the halfway point, we had lunch, and I got in the car with Jill and girls. Mauricio drove the truck to give Doug a break.

Jill and I didn't stay with the slow pace of the truck; we drove ahead to meet the manager for the keys and to pay the first month’s rent and fees. We drove in at 9:15PM, and the girls ran around the new house while we waited for the truck to arrive. Our niece, Amy, came and arranged a motel for us to stay in, and we slept for the night.

The next day was unloading the truck Amy and friends of Jill and Maurcio’s– Mark and Heather Fellows, with children Drew and Hannah, - who had recently moved for a job at the U of U, too, and Christina Zarghese and her son, Corbin, came to help move all of the stuff in - piano, furniture, treadmill, and boxes and boxes. They brought a wonderful home cooked meal that we ate at a picnic table by the children's play area at the complex.

Monday, we were up early working. First order of business was the downstairs area. Everything, but the cupboards had been redone in their place, so it was nice and clean. The cupboards needed to have contact paper down - a hated, but necessary job because of the stickiness from old paper that had been ripped up.

A quick trip to IKEA for a TV stand, a small desk for their extra room, and an IKEA lunch, then, it was back to work. Doug and I took a little side trip to find a quick place to meet the friends we were riding back to California with. Mauricio dropped Jill and the girls off and went to find his way to work because he started the next day.

When Doug and I got back, Jill and I started organizing the kitchen.
Boredom on Afton's part - she started tormenting Izzy - meant a trip to the playground with Papa. Jill and Mauricio wanted to make sure the girls were alright after a little while, but I assured them that Doug hadn't lost or let any harm come to any of our seven children, so they were fine.

The time without little ones allowed for a finished downstairs - it looked like a home now. Mauricio went to get pizza, and Doug and I walked to the store for snacks for the trip back.

That night was peaceful and wonderful. Doug and I lounged by their pool while the little family walked around the complex. After they went in, I went in to kiss the girls goodnight. I rejoined Doug just in time to watch the moon rise over the Wasatch Mountains - I had forgotten how beautiful it is there.
The next morning, Mauricio went off to his new job, we gassed and returned the moving van, and then drove to meet Jerry and Marie Plum who were returning to Manteca after dropping off their oldest child at his college in Idaho.

The mothers – Marie and I - had withdrawal on the way home missing those we left to their new, exciting lives to return to our homes. We arrived a little before nine that night, exhausted, but thankful for our own beds.
In a very short time, our lives have changed again. A good move for the Berdugo family, but another set of grandchildren that we don't get to see as often as we would like.

This adventure gives us time to pause and think that we need to take advantage of time with our children and their children, so that they know of the love and gratitude we have that they are in our lives.