Monday morning in Philadelphia. Day 7. A week ago, this morning, I received a voicemail at 7am that said the rental truck I had reserved almost a month prior would not be available to pick up in 4 hours. In fact, there were no rental trucks in New York City on this day. July 30, 2018. The day we had planned to move.
This rang familiar to me, as a similar situation happened to me years before.
I had just graduated college with a Bachelor of Music degree. I had also finished a five show summer stock season. So I was ready to tackle the move from Oklahoma to New York City with a degree and a handful of professional credits at the ready. I had planned to pack up, pick up the moving truck, drive to Poteau, Oklahoma to pick up one of my roommate’s stuff, and then on to Fort Smith, Arkansas to pick up my then girlfriend and her stuff. The following day would take us even closer to NYC.
So, the morning I was supposed to start packing, my mother woke me up and told me to turn on the TV. She was urgent but quiet. I turned on the TV and saw that everything about this day was not going to go as planned. This date?
September 11, 2001.
It seems that wherever I go, whenever I make a big move, it always aligns with some cosmic force that leaves an imprint on my life. I was grateful for post-9/11 NYC showing me a side of NYC that is rarely seen; delicate, giving, tender, attentive, and nurturing. We looked each other in the eye, we asked if we were okay, we held on a little tighter to whatever it was that we had. For the brief period after, New York was the city and community I always wanted to be a part of.
So, leaving it last Monday should have been heartbreaking, right? This truck being unavailable should have been a sign that I should stay? I resolved to find a truck, took a train to Jersey City, picked up a truck, drove it back to Astoria, and proceeded as planned. If anything, New York had made me strong, resolute, and resourceful, thus completely capable of handling a situation like this.
With the NYC skyline in my rear view mirror, I drove calmly and confidently in to the Pennsylvania horizon, looking forward to the next chapter of my life.
