We did it. We emptied our house. Got it rented in record time. Returned to Italy with only minor mishaps (forgotten computer and temporarily lost suitcase). I’m still stunned that everything worked so well. I owe it all to good luck, good friends, and good instincts.

When last we spoke I was drowning in garbage bags. I told you that I wished I had a pickup truck– thinking that was a plaintive cry into the wilderness. When what to my wondering eyes did appear but a Facebook message from beloved friend and healthcare goddess, Gina Chase, offering her late model Silverado for as long as we needed it. This solved so many problems for us. What a blessing.

I also told you that service providers weren’t calling me back. I couldn’t find an available contractor. Then at our first estate sale a nice young man was paying for the oak desk chair he purchased and happened to mention that he did repairs. (I think he must have been looking at the giant hole in our kitchen ceiling). Score. He came back later to give us an estimate and did the first of the jobs the day after we left. Nicely done.

Again, despite numerous phone calls, I was unable to get a call back from any organization that takes donated household items. We had a relatively successful 2nd estate sale but still had tons of stuff to get rid of. I hated the thought of throwing it all away.

Enter Patrick. He saw my post on Craigslist offering free stuff and before he drove the 40 minutes to get to us he wanted to make sure it was worth his while. It was. No one else responded to my ad. He was looking for books to sell on Ebay. We gave him a dozen boxes of them. He also took all the logs that were too big for the woodstove, our couch and dining room chairs, all the dry goods from our kitchen cabinets, and 3 decades worth of old broken computers. He loaded up his vegetable oil-powered truck and came back the next day for even more.

Patrick was the perfect person to give things to. He needed them but wasn’t pitiful. It served us both.

So many people appeared in our lives to move us forward with this project. I am very grateful. I hope I remember this in the future– the mantra of another dear friend, “It will all come together.”

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