Packing

I check the little brochure from Concordia, telling me what to bring. Dorm living isn't too far afield from apartment living. I will get a roommate of their choice (it has always turned out well in the past). But the rooms themselves are EMPTY! We get sheets, tiny towels, and a very thin blanket. Everything else we need to bring with us or go without.

The first year I arrived with what I thought was a lot of stuff. But when I started bringing things into the dorm, I was shocked to find veterans with vans packed to the gills hauling all sorts of stuff into their suite - chairs, tables, pianos, fans, bedding, multiple suitcases, dishes. I could not imagine what they were thinking - it looked like September on campus with students moving in for the year!

I miss having my 'stuff' about me, of course. But its just four weeks. Surely I can leave the kitchen sink home for such a short period of time. This year the added complication is that the airlines only allow you one little suitcase and you get to pay for anything else you bring. I realize I don't want to live on that skimpy of resources. So I will drive there.

I am a bit panicked that my apartment is in disarray. I know that once I start packing, it will come together quickly. And it does. In fact, I can fit everything in the truck with room to spare. It's hard to leave - not only that I will miss the boys and be concerned for their welfare, but that I am putting behind all things familiar and stepping into the strange and unaccustomed. For a good reason, but I am loathe to make myself uncomfortable for a season, even for the greater good. Ah, me. All the more reason to press on and do it. One cannot get stuck in a rut forever.