I found my neighbour sitting outside in the sun looking very weary and tired. Only a handful of days to go before she is on the way to her new house.
During these troubled times Several people I know have had to move house for different reasons. Work, to be closer to family, financial reasons and health reasons.
Imagine the trauma they are already feeling with the loss of a job, or reduced income, they now have to face the disruption of a move.
How hard it is to uproot and leave your home in this time of tribulation? Yet many people from all age groups are having to do just that.
Several people I know have had to move house, Removalists help but not quite in the same " hands on" way they used to. A lot has to be done by the people involved. Now that is okay when there is a man in the house, but it is hard work getting things from top cupboards , bottom shelves , when only a woman and a couple of kids are the ones on the move. Bad enough getting it ready for the Removalist chaps but when it is all delivered in a hundred or more boxes it is a nightmare. Seems never ending.
One is a young couple with children because the house they were renting has sold. The other one moving is an older lady mid 70's .. lives alone .. Up stairs ...now moving to a single level bungalow . What probably sounded a marvelous idea is also a lot of very hard work. No man to help. Probably a friend or daughter who can give a day over the weekend but the major part to be done by her.
I found her sitting outside in the sun looking very weary and tired. Only a handful of days to go before she is on the way to her new house. Looks tired and is very tearful. The Removal people said they can pack all her precious books , just too much for her to do, bending and lifting etc.
I don't think we realize how much is entailed when we say .. I have sold the house and moving to a smaller or a bigger house . There are still restrictions with regard to what the removalists will touch , what items they will help with. It must be very upsetting to have to organize such a traumatic event with the minimum of assistance.
It makes you wonder when are we going to get back to a normal, everyday , happy way of life. People who could help under normal circumstances are unable to travel , border restrictions or Country lockdown . But a new job requires house change, a rented house gets sold , new place has to be found. Older person needs to live on the level , no stairs , that side of life goes on.
How people who live in big cities and have been put under strict lockdown conditions manage, I hate to think. It must be so restrictive , it is hard to imagine what it must be like. Especially when you then read about others who break the rules and endanger everyone and cause these extra measures to be put into place.
I think the worst part is when one section of the community follows the laws about being careful etc, and another section can have marches and protests numbering in the hundreds , certain members of the public can have special gatherings when the rest of us are told "do as you are told". It is not right, everyone should be treated the same. One rule for All. No exceptions.
But in the background behind the news there are people whose lives are being changed and life is changing for them and in a way that is never written about in the newspapers. No one writes about the changes happening every day to normal people because of this awful situation.
They say that moving house is one of the most dreadful things that can happen in your life. Like the death of a loved one a divorce or a change in employment.
How many people are getting divorced dying or moving because of this Virus.
I am fortunate. I have no intention of leaving my single level home which I own thanks to the hard work of myself and my late husband. I remember when we bought it 35 years ago we said no stairs no problem. Thank goodness.
But spare a thought for those who are moving today or next week because they have no choice.
A new community without the support that they have cherished for so long.
In this restricted life we are living, there are some things we must acknowledge and be grateful for. I and many others in my area rely on the Mobile library which used to call every week on a certain day . We would choose our books have a friendly chat with the people we have seen regularly , a nice weekly get together.Of course that stopped. Fortunately the Library has started an "order on line " bring the books to the same spot in a van , pick up the ones that have been read and deliver the new ordered books. Life is looking good again. Chat to our old friends , catch up on the local news.We have to give a thought to those who cannot go to the library to escape. Their lives are not that simple. So many lives are having to adjust to change that would not have happened had it not been for the trial and tribulation of disruption because this virus has destroyed lives in many more ways than we acknowledge.
