Don't Go Breakin' My Heart (part 2)

Moving vans are strange things. They pass us on the freeway, but how often do we stop to think about the lives crammed in those traveling boxes? People cruising on to a new life in a new place, but carrying so much old baggage with them.

We did the same. A few months after we married, Todd and I moved to California. We drove a Ryder van through the long stretch of nothing with only our destination in mind.

Over the years I've come to realize that enjoying the scenery is not something we do well together. It seems that either one of us can do just fine on our own, but together? Not so much. Todd gets testy on trips. It's not that he can't enjoy the scenery, in fact I remember multiple times when we'd be driving along and I'd start to say something, only to be chided with "Not now, I want to enjoy this." (And mind you, it wasn't that he had a problem with what I was saying or how I was saying it, because he'd cut me off before I even got a sentence out.) It was (and is) all about his timing, his perfect timing--a second off Todd's ideal schedule and the world might as well be crumbling from it's foundations. Is it any wonder I now pass up trips with him and live for those times when I can hit the road without him?

For only having been married a few months, we had an awful lotta stuff in that Ryder: A monster of a china cabinet we hadn't asked for, in a style I never would have chosen, but the in-laws thought to be just what we needed to display our wedding china (which we didn't ask for either, but when prompted to select a pattern, we obliged only to be told "that pattern is too expensive, pick another.")

One item, a very long, old couch was especially heavy. You'll never guess where that came from. Remember the gal who asked Todd if he'd ever been in love? Yep, she was in need of some cash, I guess, and Todd, being the sensitive guy he is, thought her semi-antique (ratty old) couch would be the perfect addition to cuddle up on in our newlywed nest. I might have thought it was kind of cool if it hadn't carried with it the ghost of "No, I've never been in love" past. We lugged that thing cross country and right into our "new" life.