On Wednesday I drove down to Detroit to enjoy Helen's and Jon's hospitality, and spent Thursday catching up with friends all over the metro area. Then, early yesterday, Jon and I drove to Lansing to claim the belongings I have had in storage there since I left for seminary in 1981.
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| Dave forklifts one of the palates into the back of the van. |
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| These palates were packed up in August 1981. |
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Two full palates are on the truck. A third palate was accidentally
opened a few years ago, but luckily, most of the contents
were retained. |
The stuff in storage includes antique furniture, books (yes, more of 'em), and other personal bric-a-brac. But there are also a couple important family heirlooms, such as the four-poster beds from my grandmother's home, and several boxes of material which belonged to my grandfather. I couldn't just consign it to the trash. Nor could I pull it out of storage and use it, because after ordination I ended up in a small (600 sq. ft.) flat in Detroit with no storage space. So, month by month, I paid the bills and gradually became the storage facility's most senior customer — just a bit over 30 years as of yesterday.
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| Dave puts the second palate into the truck's side door. |
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| Dave and Jon load the material from the third palate... |
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| ...and Dave locks the doors. Next stop — Presque Isle. |
Dave, the warehouse supervisor, is driving the load north today, arriving Noon-1:00. Then we'll open the palates and carry it all inside. I expect that my basement will be packed to the gills. I'll be busy for the next several months rediscovering treasurers laid up in '81 as I prepared to leave for New York City and a new adventure in ministry. •••
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