I (Matt) have very few skill sets that I feel I am unquestionably talented at. I am a moderately good mountain bike rider, not too bad at language learning, a good reader and writer, I even am decent at acting, but in none of these areas do I feel like I am among "the best." There is one exception. I am nearly convinced that I am one of the finest packers in the world.
This is a skill built from nearly a lifetime of putting everything I own into boxes, bags, or suitcases and moving it all to a new place. My family first moved overseas when I was four and we lived in a very rural area, so several times a year our car was loaded to busting and we went to a capital city to restock. I watched my dad pack and unpack as far back as I can remember. I was 14 when I started this on my own, back and forth to boarding school with a couple of checked bags and everything else in storage for three terms and breaks a year. Three years in Nepal, living in Texas then North Carolina, moving from one apartment to another, then a move to Central Asia. Living here we pack up more often than I can say for short moves and have called two different houses home here (another in the US) until this year. Yeah, when it comes to packing, I am good.
I am not saying it comes stress free, it's a learned art form to put furniture, pictures, dishes, office supplies, kids' toys, winter and summer clothes (always remember to keep them separate for easy storage afterwards) all in their place, remember where they are, and put it all away in a somewhat organized state in the new location. It comes from years of practice, you just know how socks can keep a glass from breaking or how to layer shirts between pictures to keep them in one piece. You know how to use footlockers for breakables and keep extra clothes or jackets in duffel bags. You know you had better put the kitchen up last and get it out first if you want to eat, even if it's the hardest room to pack.
Life has once again called the Mitchell family to a move. We are back in the first town we lived in as I am taking the roll of director of our NGO. Like all moves, it comes with mourning as we leave friends behind, but as so often, that gets drowned in the particular stresses of packing and moving in this place. No moving companies to call, we asked around and got a dump truck for all our big items. I made four or five (they all blend together in memories) trips in to town on my own with a full car of stuff that wouldn't fit in the dump truck. The day we moved we weren't sure if we were even going to try at 9am, by 10:30 a truck was in our yard, it left at 12:30, not a lot of closure time there. Through it all Cindy had the fun of corralling a couple very active toddlers while I did most of the packing and unpacking along the way. It complicates things when the packing of toys has to take place at nap time so that someone isn't unpacking immediately.
We are now settled in our new home, with a foot of snow on the ground outside. The boys love the stairs (balls go down them really well) and the big kitchen where they can "help" mommy cook and rearrange spice containers. Mom and Dad are loving the luxurious new house with amazing features like a big heater, indoor toilet and shower, and (newly arrived from the capital) an automatic washing machine with a DRIER. Yeah, we are living the high life now. Now if we can just figure out where to put everything, we will be good.
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