Today, the 14th of December 2011 was the day of the move from Brighton, my home for the last 29 years. It was quite a shock and yet not. Chris had been down for about three days prior to the move to offer practical and emotional support and was great with both.
There were still boxes to pack right up until the arrival of Smooth Movers who would be carting all my stuff away. The ability of the movers to lift and carry, on their own, furniture and boxes for which I would need a helping hand never fails to amaze me and working at quite a speed they had everything of mine packed into the back of their van by 10am and were heading off for Essex and we were about to follow them.
Two things did not come along for the ride ... My gorgeous, and ever growing six year old Kentia Palm which simply would not fit in my new home without vicious pruning - luckily my friend Grae has offered to look after it until such times as I do have the room. The other thing was my pair of QUAD ESL-63 speakers which have also had to go into safekeeping, for the same reason as the palm, until the hopeful day of reunion. I've had these magnificent loudspeakers since 1987 and they are sorely missed.
Leaving Brighton was a strange experience. I cried from Seven Dials until we had driven down Dyke Road and onto the bypass and then out onto the A23. I cried thinking of the people I may never see again, and all my friends that I would not see for some time. I cried for streets down which I'd walked and cycled over decades that I would now walk along, if at all, as a visitor. No more fabulous coffee and socialising in the Red Roaster, no more books borrowed from the modern Jubilee Library, no more iconic Duke of York's, no more pier, no more Sussex Downs, no more lovely organic goodies from Infinity Foods and the weird and wonderful shops of the North Laine. I was especially aware of never again being a member of the Rainbow Chorus to which I'd belonged and had been such a big part of my life for 10 years and the extraordinary Brighton and Hove Green Party of which I'd been a member since 1985.
But out on the road, I was starting a new life with Chris. Chris is the man I'd met four months ago to the day and who had captured my heart leading to my decision that I had to leave Brighton to live with him as it really made no sense for him to move to Brighton. Apart from a brief stop at the infamous Clackett Lane services on the M25 we journeyed onwards to the cottage only to find that we had kept those Smooth Movers waiting for 30 minutes! The shame ...
Steve and Kemba began unloading without further ado and we felt so useless as they refused all offers of help whilst they carried crazily heavy loads upstairs to the study or bedroom. My two drawer filing cabinet which I would have emptied, carried the cabinet up then one drawer and then the other was carried upstairs in its entirety! Amazing. Then suddenly it was all inside and our two very friendly (and strong!) removal men were gone and Chris and I were together in our new home which now looked like an Essex outpost of Big Yellow Box Storage. There were now two people's stuff in a cottage which had previously held just one's - it's a tight squeeze ...
We managed to clear a space in the lounge from most of the boxes and put things roughly where they were intended to live permanently. After that, it was of course time for tea and Chris lit the fire - he had been waiting through some of the colder days for my arrival so that it would be lit when I was here, symbolically creating the heart of our home once I'd arrived. He's just gorgeous like that!
Later on it was a gorgeous bottle of R. Pouillon Champagne to celebrate (thanks Henry!) from the wonderful Butler's Wine Cellar, which thankfully does free delivery for crates ...
I'd arrived. My new life with Chris began this day. I am so excited.
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