…and then it got weird.

The last week was really emotional for my little family unit. Delilah and I would look at each other constantly and comment on how weird things were or even “What the heck are we doing?” I’m sure most people already have a place to move into when they sell their house. 

Our neighbors would stop us in the street saying how sorry they were that we were leaving. The backyard squirrels, animals known for bottling up their emotions, avoided us in an attempt to avoid their own grief. Not even the pecans could tempt them to approach us.

The going-away party at work that had been canceled when I caught COVID, was rescheduled. During the party, I realized how much I loved being with all my coworkers, the people I spent the majority of my waking hours with, and how much I would miss all of them. It started to sink in that this was real. We were really leaving behind everything we knew. 

I wrote the following to the good people of Home Zone Furniture before I left:

Hey everyone,

As many of you might already know, my last day with Home Zone Furniture is this Friday, October 1st. 

It has been amazing working here. I cherish all the relationships I have made along the way. Home Zone, and everyone I have worked with mean so much to me, and I wish you all the best.

I want to thank Jason especially for the trust he gave me over seven years ago to create the website and bring us our eCommerce store.

My personal philosophy is always to leave things better than when you found them, and it is my hope that I have done this while I have been at Home Zone. 

We have always “traded up” when replacing people in the ad department, and I have no doubt that, in time, Matthew will bring more to the table than I ever did. Matthew and I worked together before I started here and I trust him implicitly with my baby (the website).

Thanks,
Sam

I received many well-wishes but the one from my boss meant a lot to me:

HZ. Team

It’s hard to believe that Sam’s time here is coming to an end. When he started we barely had a website. He almost single-handily brought us to the twentieth century and beyond. In many ways, Sams’s work speaks for itself.

Sam the person (on the other hand) is the rest of the story. For those of you that never got to know Sam as well, there is much to say. When Sam is in the office, there is never a dull moment. One of the funest and most light-hearted people you have ever met. I can honestly say I never saw Sam having a bad day. He can brighten any room.

When Sam decided that it was time for him to move on, his first goal was to find someone to replace himself. But not just anyone, he wanted someone that could live up to the HZ standard and in his words, even make us better than we are. That speaks volumes about Sams’s character!!!!

Today we are a much better company because of his contributions over the years. I am grateful for everything he has contributed. As Sam embarks on his next adventure, I hope he finds everything he is looking for and more, because most of all he deserves it!!

Best of luck, SIR SAM!!

All week I wondered how selling all we owned, and giving up a job I loved seemed like a good idea a few years ago.

The morning we said goodbye to our house, on the deck we built, in what would shortly no longer be our backyard; Delilah, Dash, and I stood in a hug-huddle and cried together.

At the title company, signing all the documents to finish the sale of our house, I had this empty feeling. The whole thing was made worse knowing Delilah would be staying in Texas while Dash and I would be going to Costa Rica. Out of our many years together we had spent a handful of weeks apart. Never more than one week at a time.

The next day, I sold my car and the sense of finality was overwhelming. This was our life. Taking inventory, I was now: homeless, unemployed, separated from my wife, and essentially a single father. Oh, and about to start mooching off my grandparents. On paper, not very pretty.

The flight to Costa Rica was great. I sprung for the non-stop American Airlines flight. Usually, I would opt for the Spirit flight that would have been a third of the price but taken twice as long. We arrived in the afternoon instead of the middle of the night so I felt it was worth it.

Being in the mountains is amazing. I have already lost track of what day it is, something that has not happened during my working career. The hours go by at an indeterminate speed, the only thing that marks the time of day is when you are told it is time for lunch or dinner. There is a time of daylight and birds and a time of darkness and bats.

The latest event here is a Rufous Crested Croquet that was recently spotted for the second time in a hundred years. Bird watchers from all around have been coming and staying all day to catch a glimpse of it.

Other than that, I have been chillin’ with my Grandma and cousin Nikki. Nikki and I have been walking down and back up the mountain in the mornings. Our house in Euless was at 613′ above sea level and my Grandmas’s house is at 2910′ so the morning hike is a bit of a challenge. The bottom of the mountain is a half-mile away but at 2569′. Climbing the half-mile back at a 340′ rise in elevation is tough.

My Grandma is funny. She will get these ideas in her head about what I am doing, and before we had sold our house she was convinced I was staying in seedy hotels.

Dash and I allow ourselves an episode or two of 30 Rock before we go to bed. Then is another beautiful day of perfect weather, hammocks, reading, drawing, and Gallo pinto.

My Grandpa’s health has been rapidly declining since I saw him in January, but I think I will leave that for next week’s entry.