We've moved more than our share of times:
- to a cement-block duplex at 301 East Morrison Street, Wilmore, Kentucky - after our honeymoon!
- to our first real home: a 40' x 8' mobile home at 20 Chapelview, Wilmore, which we paid $1,800 for and sold for the same a year-and-a-half later. Travis was born while we lived here.
- to another, nicer duplex at 104 Stephens Drive, Nicholasville, Kentucky. On weekends we lived in a 70' mobile home behind the Tunnel Hill Free Methodist Church in English, Indiana.
- to 112 Oak Lane, Harrison City, Pennsylvania. Here we endured two horrendous winters in 1977 and 1978.
- to Blaine Avenue, McClellandtown, Pennsylvania. Troy and Tracie were born while we lived here and Travis went to Kindergarden.
- to 315 Hill Boulevard, East Liverpool, Ohio. Travis started and finished school in East Liverpool!
- to a home we purchased at 316 Thompson Avenue, East Liverpool, Ohio. Debbie bought the house - I bought the view!
- to 285 Bradshaw Avenue, East Liverpool, Ohio. We were told we were moving, so we sold our house! Had to rent this one and move. A year later it was sold and we had to move again!
- to 500 West Fifth Street, East Liverpool, Ohio. We nicknamed this place 'Maniac Mansion'. It was HUGE! There was a Bruno's pizza shop on the corner that sold big slices for $.50 - we ate a lot of pizza while there with three teenagers! Travis left for college from here (He hated his semester there! He called me one day and said, "Dad, they're stricter here than you were!").
- to 2100 Spencerville Road, Spencerville, Maryland. Travis was at the United States Naval Academy while we lived here (25 miles away).
- to? We lived in several places for a few months: the farm in Enon Valley, an apartment in Chester, West Virginia (courtesy of our friend, Heidi Dietz), and a house in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. This was a transition during a time of family crisis; we ended up running a licensed home for severely behaviorally challenged children in Summit County for six years!
- to 962 Kickapoo Avenue (my favorite address - very poetic) where we worked for the Shelter Care Agency. I also joined the staff at the Cornerstone FMC. Troy and Tracie both left the nest while we lived here.
- to 4350 E Calla Road, New Middletown, Ohio.
- to room 1237, Hua Yuan Hotel, Weixing Liu, Changchun, Jilin Province, PRC.
- to 273 Gilmore Road, Enon Valley, Pennsylvania (after a disastrous one-month in a duplex in New Castle, Pennsylvania).
- to 190 Rusty Trail, Enon Valley, Pennsylvania - hopefully our last stop before Heaven!
Travis always made us jealous when he moved. He did 'nothing'. The military sent packers in and then movers. He was lodged in nice hotels until everything was ready. Tracie and Jon have had this experience too! Our moves were all self-moves - usually using a U-Haul trailer or truck! Ugh!
Actually, we still have a dream of living in some other places like:
- Dahlonega, Georgia
- Ocean City, Maryland
- Savannah, Georgia (winters)
- near the Smokey Mountains (along the Appalachian Trail)
- Hong Kong
- the Philippines
- Portugal
- wherever else God leads...
The dream continues!
These moves reflect lots of lifting and sifting. They reflect exhaustion and anticipation. Some of the churches had teams who helped us unpack; I can't remember any that helped us pack to leave! People have loaned us trucks. But, by-and-large, the Hal/Debbie Moving Company has developed some major skills along the way. However, our number is unpublished - we're not taking on any clients at present.
Give us a couple of months to get settled and then stop by and visit us. Just remember when you come that you should plan to be gone by 10:00 PM. That's when our eyelids get heavy and we drift off into never-never-land!
But there's usually a pot of soup or chili on the stove and a pizza in the freezer! If not, we always have popcorn!
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