Tuesday, April 30, 2013

My Books and Finding Order in Chaos

It was August. My wedding was in seven weeks and I had to be out of my apartment in two.

Since I was moving into David's when we got married and I would be traveling for most of the next seven weeks, I decided it would be easiest for me to move all my stuff into his apartment when my lease was up and live out of a suitcase until the wedding.

I had been moving things slowly for a couple weeks. Since I wasn't taking any furniture I decided to do it all myself. We lived twenty blocks apart after all, and I was at his apartment almost every day anyway. I just took stuff with me every time I went over, and it worked pretty well.

Until it didn't.

The third Tuesday in August started out fine, until I couldn't find the outfit I decided on for work. I rifled through my closet and drawers, but it was nowhere. In a flash, I knew what had happened.

It was in the bag of stuff I took to David's the night before.

A panic I was unaware had been simmering just under the surface started to rise.

I looked wildly around my chaotic room at shelves still half full, and piles of clothes and books waiting to be packed. My eyes fell on a stack of wedding presents in the corner, and I thought about similar such stacks in David's apartment, at my in-laws' in the Bronx, at my parents' in Pittsburgh.

My chest got tight, and my breath hitched.

Still in my underwear, I grabbed a massive rolling duffel and started throwing books in by the handful. When my entire collection - three hundred in all - was packed and I reached back to close the zipper, I saw the clock. If I didn't leave in two minutes, I would be seriously late for work.

I picked up the phone and called in sick, got dressed, and rolled that duffel straight out the door.

I hefted the bag into the first cab I saw and gave the driver David's address. David was already gone, so I let myself in and started unpacking.

When the bag was empty, I had books stacked all over the floor, but nowhere to put them. All the shelves were full.

Breathing hard with crazy eyes, I proceeded to take David's stuff off of every single shelf in the apartment, stack it all under the coffee table, and line up my books.

I figured David probably wouldn't be too pleased with my solo redecorating, and I spent the rest of the day preparing for a fight and figuring out how to explain that I needed all the shelves for myself and he had to find somewhere else for his stuff.

When I heard his key in the door later that night I forced myself to wait him out.

He walked in, saw the shelves and looked at me. I tensed, spoiling for the fight, expecting the explosion.

"So what's on TV tonight?" he asked.

20 comments:

  1. What a relief. I agree--sounds like a great choice and a nice fit. My hubby would have done the same. What a stressful time! Glad he helped you find stability in that time!

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  2. Clearly he knows hat is important!

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  3. Its so nice to have someone who can read you and cares enough when he does.

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  4. Aw, what a guy! I love how your angst over missing clothes translated to needing to have your books settled in their new home. Every time we've moved my books are an issue (so many, so heavy) but once they're on the shelves, I'm home.

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  5. Yes he's awesome for having the good sense to fall in love with a reader. I love that you were able to make yourself at home.

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  6. This is great. I love it on so many levels. Well done.

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  7. He sounds like such an incredible guy. I bet all that tightness in your chest immediately gushed out. Good picking :)

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  8. Ditto to all the comments above - you both chose partners well! Good work! And great story!

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  9. Wonderful! I am glad you called in sick to take care of your books and that David understood (or knew not to mess with it).

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  10. All of the shelf space AND a great guy - sounds like a win,win!

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  11. This was so well done. I could feel the moving chaos the whole way through. And I agree with everyone above, he sounds like a great guy!

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  12. Wow! That's how you know you found the right man. ;)

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  13. Whew! I could feel the air bottle up, crush my lungs, and let out as I read your story. Nice!

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  14. Love this. It all comes down to finding the person who takes us as we are :)

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  15. I love this - that you took over the shelves, that you left the stuff on the floor, and that it wasn't a fight later. You two were made for each other!

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  16. Wow! Talk about a great guy.

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  17. I love his reaction -- what a fella! And my books go everywhere with me. Always...

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