Passion week. From Don
Passion Week
For Christians around the world Passion week, the week before Easter Sunday is a time to reflect on what it means to be a follower of Christ. Each day is a step toward the death of Christ (Good Friday) and the rising of Christ on Easter Sunday. Though it’s been a few decades since I have been a practicing Catholic I can still remember going to church every night during Passion Week.
We lived a different kind of Passion Week at our house this year. Each day was a step toward our move to Ecuador. On Monday we assessed our belongings left after the garage sale the previous Saturday. With Karen no longer employed she dug deep into taking clothes to the Goodwill. After training my morning clients at the gym I sorted to more unsold sporting goods, letting go of some fly fishing equipment that I had been packing around for decades.
On Tuesday we prepared for the FREE garage sale on Wednesday. Filming and editing a silly promotional video had us at our silly best as we moved more housewares to to the sale tables in the garage. Wednesday was a whirlwind of activity as we opened the garage door and 3p to a crowd of thrifty shoppers claiming anything they wanted at no charge. It was a joy to see the smiling faces taking needed housewares, but also a bit heartbreaking to see the tools of our lives being hauled away for free. Thursday 3 loads of belonging went to the Goodwill. Everything we brought to Ecuador must fit into 6 suitcases so it was time for more difficult decisions. Do we bring beach towels or a down jacket? A bluetooth speaker or a favorite frying pan? On Good Friday we started in the back of the house and moved STUFF progressively to the front of the house. Possessions started to be packed in suitcases.
Saturday I sold my Toyota pickup to a fella that left a deposit two weeks previous. I was happy to see it go actually. I spent dozens of hours doing repairs on that truck and to be truly reliable it needed quite a few more.
Easter Sunday was spent sleeping in and resting and telephoning friends and family as we always do. It was important to log as many hours of sleep as possible since we knew that it would be a long week of travel uncertainty ahead.
Monday the last loads of books were donated to the library and a few more loads went to the Goodwill. The final squishing of items into suitcases was underway! We hauled six very heavy suitcases to the Holiday Inn Express and caught a ride back to our house to sell our beds. By 6:30 pm all our possessions fit into just six suitcases!
Our dear friend Gary picked us up at 5:45a on Tuesday for an exhausting 17 hours of travel from Montrose to Denver to Houston to Panama City to Guayaquil.