Ch Ch Ch Changes

Tomorrow I go to the town of my birth/childhood to pack up my mother's belongings in preparation for her move to the town in which I now live and have lived for 46 years.  It will be a difficult transition for her, mostly because everything associated with her is difficult, but also because she's leaving the house my dad built for our family.  What a great house it is, too.  Dad wasn't satisfied to have just a house - his house had to be a fortress.  It is a cinderblock house faced entirely with brick.  I can only assume he was not going to let the wolf come to our door and huff and puff and blow down the house.  All the little piggies inside would always have a roof over their heads.  My dad built that house entirely by himself, with a bit of help from my uncle and one of my dad's friends.  The house was always something we were proud of as my dad put so much of himself into it.  Because of my mother's OCD, the house is in excellent shape.  She has always anticipated a problem and called Mr. Fixit.  "Hello, my furnace has a 20 year warrantee on it and I'm already in year 5.  I just know it's ready to explode so can you come and replace it?"  "Hello, my roof hasn't been replaced in the past 3 years, can you come and replace it?"  "Hello, all my toilets innards need to be replaced as I've used them exactly 100 times since they were last replaced."  That's really just about the way it goes.  This is the home of my childhood and as with all homes, it has good memories and bad memories.  Unfortunately, some of the bad memories have scarred the house.  Yes, my mother and her inability to handle things out of her control ......  All those screaming fits inevitably led to throwing fits.  All those throwing fits led to scars on plastered walls.  My sister and I can lead tours through the house, pointing out the scars and what particular fit is associated with each mark.  Of course, the biggest scar is still on my mother's psyche and will be there forever.  She never learned to go with the flow and let loose of the things out of her control.  So you can imagine her attitude about moving to a new apartment/town/surroundings, etc.  Lordy!  I can't imagine what fireworks the next few months will bring, but I'm going to be patient and positive.  Of course, you all know I'm a liar.  I'm going to follow my usual path - wear a suit of armor and always assume the worst.  If you do that, you're always prepared and many times, you'll get a lovely surprise.  I'm looking forward to lovely surprises in the near future.  Whatever happens, I bet you'll hear about it.  Remember, I don't lie to my friends.