Chapter XVI - A NEW BEGINNING

"Heeeeyyyyy Ninooooooo"

It was moving day and John came to help me to load up the Ryder truck we rented.

My brother-in-law John was my best buddy, I especially liked how he talked, he stretched every vowel that he pronounced, which made every syllable almost longer than possible, and it made the words he said happier and more important like the words needed some extra attention. He had blond hair as thick as rope and he didn't care much about how it looked. He was a strong man and I always was in awe of the way he lifted things without really bending his body like it all didn't weigh anything. If he had told me that his ancestors were Vikings I would have believed him with no doubt.

"Heeeeeeyyyy Ninooooooo, this is from Jane and me, for in your new house, we hope you guys like it." He refinished an old steamer trunk, and Jane put some nice dark blue fabric lining with little flowers on the inside and it looked beautiful, We put a blanket over it and we found a safe spot in the truck, so it would survive the trip safely.

We loaded up the rest of our stuff in the truck and John had to push his whole weight to get the doors closed, it was quite full. "You better don't open those doors on the way...."

Patricia made some nice chicken sandwiches for on the road, and we packed a coolbox with drinks, we brought plenty of Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chip Cookies, the favorites of all of us, and we were ready to go! Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, 1000 miles ahead of us.

Patricia drove the Pontiac with the girls and the cookies and I drove the yellow truck with 3-year-old David in the front seat with me, and a bag of Goldfish Crackers for him to munch on. "Papa is driving a big yellow Truck". "Yes, David you and me are driving the big yellow truck".

I brought 6 hours of Beatles music because David loved the Beatles, I had fun suddenly being a truck driver and having my son next to me trying to sing along with the Beatles.

At our first stop, I jumped out of the truck as smoothly as possible so Patricia also would believe that I instantly became an experienced truck driver. "So you did that smoothly," she said mockingly because she always knew right away when I put on a show to impress her.

We stopped several times and on the third stop, Patricia asked David if he wanted to come in the other car, so Erin or Aubrey could switch places with him.

"NO, I WANT TO STAY IN THE YELLOW TRUCK WITH PAPA AND THE BEATLES!"

So, that was clear for the rest of the 2 1/2-day trip.

The truck was restricted, it had a speed governor on it, no faster than 65 miles per hour, but we made it. On the third day, we arrived at Satellite Beach, where we rented a nice house close to the beach with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a recreation room, a living room, an open kitchen, and a two-car garage. I loaded the truck off and we all put the furniture in the rooms where it had to go.

And then it showed: Houston we have a problem, we had no furniture for the living room!

Oh well, John's steamer trunk really shined in that freshly painted room, it was a good beginning.