Fielder’s Choice

I can see the home stretch run, I think, as far as moves go.

I grew up in the same house near Hamilton, Ala., and didn’t move until my sophomore year of college, loading up for the University of North Alabama.

Since then I’ve moved to Fulton, Aberdeen (two different houses), Laurel (an apartment and then a house) and Holly Springs (a rental house and then purchasing a home).

We moved Emma a few times during her college years, starting with a dorm room on the third floor, and then Andy a few times in his college years.

Emma has moved twice since in North Little Rock and Andy twice in the Jackson area.

Friday, Pam and I woke at about 5:45 a.m. for a road trip to Ridgeland. Our purpose was to assist our son Andy with his move to Tupelo, where he is tranferring through his work with Renasant Bank. His fiancée Brooke is working for the Girl Scouts in Tupelo and living with friends of ours.

We first stopped in Canton where we rented a U-Haul trailer. It had been awhile since I’d pulled a trailer and never on an interstate highway. But there was only a short stretch of I-55 before the exit to his rental house in Ridgeland.

We had concerns about whether or not we could get all of his items into the 6x12 trailer. As it turned out, we had extra space.

Not thinking clearly, I told Pam, “Hey, we can do some shopping on the way to Tupelo and add some things (to the trailer).”

The largest items to load, in the early morning heat of central Mississippi, were a pair of couches. One was given to Andy the day before by a coworker; the other came from my mother’s house with plans for it to end up at Emma’s.

By about 11:15 a.m., we were packed up and ready to go. After stopping for lunch, we chose to travel Highway 25 North, avoiding the interstate and the Natchez Trace.

It’s a familiar route. I used to drive Highway 25 a lot when living and working in Aberdeen. I made trips south on 25 to the Mississippi Press Association headquarters for various meetings, plus other activities in the capital city.

Things started smoothly. I told Andy I would stay in the right or slow lane of Highway 25 North and he could follow.

Shortly into the drive, I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a box flying out of the back of my truck. I slowed down, trying not to shift the load in the trailer, and found a spot to pull over.

As it turned out, it was just a top to a box. Inside it were glasses. I moved them to the enclosed toolbox on the back of my truck.

We went through Carthage, stopped for gas in Louisville, and kept on going north through Starkville and West Point. We arrived in Tupelo around 3:30 p.m.

Andy has rented a downtown apartment, over a business. We were worred about being able to park in front on a Friday afternoon. We stopped on a side street initially, then fortunately, a pair of parking spaces opened up in front.

There’s only one flight of stairs, but it’s a steep flight.

Thank goodness, we had help from one of Andy’s friends, plus family.

In a year, we will be moving Erin to college (somewhere). Likely, another move or two will follow.

“It’s keeping you young,” I’ve been told.