Today I walked through our apartment, emptied out and ready to be staged and sold. It was a sad but familiar feeling. As senior move managers, we are often the last people inside a house before it is sold. I can’t express enough how much of a privilege this is, and also how it is at once both a melancholy and exciting experience.
Often, we have worked with clients for months, sometimes years, to meticulously plan their move out of their home. We start with a full house packed with the memories of all the years the family has spent in the home. And, little by little, we help our client sift through it all – everything they own – making decisions about what they will keep and what they no longer need or want.
We sort their clothes, books, dishes, files, and jewelry. We sell things of value and donate a tremendous amount of furniture and personal belongings.
They are often moving because it has too difficult to maintain their current home, or they need to leave New York City to be near family. Many of our clients are moving into senior residences, where meals will be prepared, their apartments will be cleaned, and they can settle into a simpler routine.
They are often reluctant to leave and a little afraid of the change, but there is usually a feeling of hope and optimism blended in. They may be leaving one home, but they are going to another where they will make new memories. It may not be like when they were young and starting a career and family, but it is the start of a new chapter.
But what’s left behind is an empty house. If you use your imagination, maybe you can picture what it will feel like in another fifty years, after new people have made it their home. But, more often, when you walk through the empty rooms, it’s hard to think of about what the future holds and all-too-easy to focus on the past.
It’s a lot of emotions. I can’t think of any other profession that allows you to go on this journey with a client.
Our apartment feels so strange empty. My feet echo on the floors. It feels much smaller than it did when it was full of our stuff, and us, and our dog. And now our stuff is all in a new place, where we are settling into new routines and beginning to make new memories.
