Travels in Eire #42

As the week had progressed Cailin took time in the evenings to pack and organize for the move. She and her dad had arranged for a friend with a pickup truck to come by the apartment on the following Wednesday to load up those things that would be stored at her parents indefinitely. The same day she had a storage company coming by to load up all her furniture to store while she was gone. Cailin had considered selling it, or giving it away, but she had spend a lot of time choosing this furniture and was not ready to part with it just yet. There wasn't a lot, but she could not expect her parents to store everything. She made arrangements for a 3 month storage. After that time, she would need to decide what to do with all the furniture.

Cailin had a discussion with the building super the week before about not being able to give a month's notice. But this was New York City and housing was at a premium. He already had a waiting list for when apartments became available and said if he could rent it quickly it was not problem. She had stopped by his apartment on the first floor on her way home and found out he already had someone to move in the apartment the week after she left. With Cailin moving out on Wednesday, that would leave the super 2 days to get the apartment ready for the new tenant.

As Cailin was packing those things that would be shipped over to Ireland she had to make some very difficult decisions. Over the years she had collected so many keepsakes that were very dear to her. She wished she could take all of them along. She loved her music collection but was worried about being able to play her CDs and DVDs in Ireland. She had to take into consideration the difference in electrical needs. Even with converters in every plug, it would be difficult. To avoid some of the problems she made sure all her favorite music was loaded on her iPod. Most songs were already there including a lot of Irish musicians such as Celtic Thunder, The High Kings, Lunasa, and many others.
She wondered if she would be able to use her ipod with a player that she might purchase in Ireland. That would be a question for Darren.

As Cailin packed, she kept a list of questions for Darren that would help her make decisions for what to take. Sometimes Darren needed to find out some of the answers, but mostly he knew what she would need. In there many conversations Darren shared that he had told his parents about Cailin's move to Derry. Cailin was very curious to know how Darren's mum, Maura, felt about this. Darren relayed to her that for the most part his mum was cautious, but positive. His da couldn't be happier. He did state that his granddad told him that he knew this would happen all along.

All this time Cailin had been wearing the Connemara marble heart that Darren had bought for her. Whenever she started to question her decision, or feel a little insecure about what she was planning, she reached up and held on to it. There was something about the stone that took her right back to that moment in the store when Darren put the necklace on her. It gave her a very settled and warm feeling. It was then she felt at home.

As Cailn checked of the list of things she needed to deal with, she suddenly realized that she needed to take care of where all her mail was sent. For work she dealt with mostly emails and faxes, she hadn't even thought about getting her mailing address in Derry The easiest thing to do was have all her mail forwarded to her parents until she got settled. There would be no bills to deal with, and through regular contact with her parents she could find out what needed to be handled. Over time she would share her Derry address with friends. It would probably be a PO Box, and that would be fine. As she was considering all of this she paused and realized that she was thinking long term here and not just three months.

Just then her bell rang. Cailin answered the call from downstairs, “Yes?”

“Cailin, it's Sherry, are you ready to get some dinner? Or did you totally forget about tonight?” Sherry, a good friend, had made arrangements with Cailin to go out this Friday night.

“Oh, Sherry, come on up! I was just lost in all this moving and packing,” Cailin buzzed the door open laughing at herself for getting so enmeshed in packing.

The two girls spend a few minutes surveying Cailin's slightly unorganized apartment and headed out for Chinese food for a long leisurely dinner to catch up with each other. This was one person who Cailin would share information about Darren. Sherry could hear Cailin's excitement and knew that this was something very special for her.

“Guess I'm going to have to come visit you in Derry to check out this handsome man!” Sherry teased.

“Sherry, you are one person who I would love to come and visit. It would be great to see someone from over here. And just maybe Darren has a friend who might catch your fancy!” Cailin knew she would miss some of her friends and Sherry was one of them.

The two girls chatted and laughed for what seemed like hours and then headed back to Cailin's apartment where Sherry said her good-byes. As Cailin entered her apartment, she suddenly felt a little sad. She had made this amazing life for herself in New York City, and now she was leaving it not knowing for sure what was going to happen. On one hand she was excited for the new adventure, on the other, she was a little afraid.