A fresh start in a new home for Bonnie and family

Today, we helped my sister, Bonnie, move in to her new home in Pottstown. It was a downtown upstairs apartment in a building that appeared to be about as old as the town itself. A business occupied the bottom floor. The apartment was large and roomy and had 3 bedrooms. The largest bedroom was up yet another flight of stairs and was far more than someone like me would ever need. This room was given to Bonnie’s oldest son, Duran. There were also less roomy bedrooms for Bonnie and Nathan. One advantage to this location was that you stepped out of the apartment to find yourself in downtown Pottstown and easy access to all that is available there. A disadvantage is that it is downtown, albeit a small downtown, so if one wanted solitude, peace and quiet, it may not be the ideal location. It was roomier than that two bedroom apartment I shared with my parents in San Diego, but much less expensive.

Bonnie was bringing her two sons to town to bring on a fresh start for her family and she would be easy commuting distance to Hatboro, where our sister Teresa lived. Today was move-in day. Our family has gotten used to moving over the years that we lived with our parents and since then. But moving is a lot of work and it is hard to get used to that. Teresa had her van loaded with Bonnie’s boxes.

Moving boxes meant many trips up and down the stairs. It was hard to imagine that Bonnie had brought all of these boxes on the bus for her move from Tennessee to Pennsylvania. It brought to mind my trip to the Philippines a few years ago when I was traveling with a friend and a dozen or so boxes that she would be bringing to her family. This is in contrast to how I like to move or travel, I like to travel light. Everyone was helping, Bonnie, Teresa, Nathan and Duran.

I was using my camcorder during much of this trip, in addition to a 35 mm camera I had borrowed from my mom. Being a videographer and photographer, most often I am behind the camera. So while I have many pictures and videos of family members, pictures and video of me are rare. So I thought I would try giving the camera to Bonnie a bit, to put myself in front of the camera, lest I be accused of not helping with moving all those boxes.

We finally accomplished moving all those boxes and settled down for the evening to a dinner of Caesar’s Pizza. Caesar’s Pizza is always cheap and sufficient for those on a budget.