Fielder’s Choice
It seems, in life, things happen in stages.
Fast forward to those teen years and there’s graduating high school, going to college, getting a degree, landing a job and getting that first dwelling place of your own.
This past weekend, we helped my son Andy move his first load of furniture and such to his new apartment near Canton.
This past summer, he went to work for Renasant Bank as a manager trainee and has been training in Tupelo, knowing all along he was going to be moved to the bank in Madison. He starts there on January 3.
We stacked the van to the top Thursday night and headed south Friday morning.
As we drove and talked, I had thoughts of a similar path that his dad took 30 years ago.
That’s when I made the move away from my home in Alabama to Fulton where I went to work for The Itawamba County Times. It was a short distance but at the same time it was a big move.
I moved into a small, older, two-bedroom house that was owned by the owner of the newspaper.
In my mind, it was the perfect bachelor pad.
My family (Mother in particular) wanted to make sure I had everything I needed – from a couch and TV to a microwave.
Needless to say, I did not do a lot of cooking.
I was really good at opening a can (with my new electric can opener) and putting Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli in a pan and onto the stove eye for heating.
And occasionally I’d even fry a couple of over-easy eggs.
I lived there for four years, until I met Pam and we got married and bought a house. That, of course, was another one of those stages in life.
When first getting to Canton Friday around noon, Andy had to stop by the utilities office and pay for water (getting it switched to his name) so we could enter the apartment and unload.
It didn’t take us long to unload the beds, some small furniture and other items.
Then we had some lunch and followed that with a visit to Comcast for his cable TV options.
“How much for the basic channels?”
“How much is just WiFi?”
“How much if I add these channels?”
It made me glad to stand back and hear him ask those questions and then say, “I have to try to keep it within my budget.”
Starting a new job in a new apartment is not easy. There’s rent, electricity, water, cable, and then, of course, there’s that payment for the car.
I recalled, after a couple of years in Fulton, trading my small car for an SUV. Believe me, I learned very quickly the importance of budgeting.
Later that evening, Pam and Andy’s girlfriend, Phoenix, brought another load of stuff, packed in Phoenix’s SUV.
Then, after getting all of those things into the apartment, we had to go purchase the necessities – soap, paper towels, cleaning supplies, towels and so on and so forth. He and his mom had already purchased plates, forks, spoons, glasses, etc.
Andy and I will probably make one more trip to Canton in the van prior to the new year. We still have the couch, a table or two and lots of small boxes filled with things Andy wants to keep from his days in Holly Springs.
It’s one of those stages, and most importantly, Andy is happy and excited.