With all this rush we needed some balance. Getting a chance to serve someone else is just what we needed. Stepping outside of our needs for a morning and focusing on getting Uncle David and Aunt LaVeta packed up was a blessing for sure. First of all we have not yet been able to see them this trip home and tomorrow is their actual move date so they were going to be unable to come to our Christmas/Thanksgiving party. Second of all moves can be stressful everyone who has ever moved knows that. We are gone so much that we really have to take any oportunity we can to be there for our family while we are here. They had told us that Uncle David would be needing back surgery so they needed to be moved from their upstairs apartment to a downstairs apartment. Do to availability this new downstairs apartment was in a different location. It was apparent that the hurting back was a bigger factor than he let on. I am surprised and not surprised that he was able to help as much as he was. Surprised in that I would have been a whiney monster if I had been in that much pain. Not surprised because he was raised in the same household as my father. A household of hard hard workers, not allowed to complain and thinking of others first, a need to contribute and work as long as anyone else is working even if physically you can’t or shouldn’t and independent to the point that it’s not only hard to ask for help, but it’s hard to receive help even when it is needed. I appreciate these things about him. Maybe because they remind me of my own father whom I respect so much. Maybe it is because I have spent years observing this family as I have grown and can appreciate those values as well as see what makes my father, uncle and other members of this sibling group do some of the things that they do. It makes me love them even more. I don’t always agree with it but because I was raised with it I know where their heart is coming from and it melts mine. I could use a bigger dose of selflessness at times.
A group from their church was to be coming to actually move them tomorrow. So, we were there to hopefully take some weight off of LaVeta and have everything ready to move. I was suprised by how far they had gotten on their own. One room was full of boxes and most of the rooms had been for the most part packed up. We helped get the furniture ready for the hardwood floors of the next place, packed up the bathroom and the storage unit on the back patio. Pretty much everything was in boxes for easy moving when their church group arived. Our other job was to move the fragile stuff so they would not have to stress about it getting broken tomorrow. We had many hands so it didn’t take but a few hours to get all of that accomplished and we had a lot of fun doing it. All the little kids worked pretty much the whole time and did well too. 
Working side by side with my cousin Ann is my favorite way to connect with her. That and sit on her, got both of those fit into our day 😋. Thank you Uncle David and Aunt LaVeta for letting us come and help you pack. We love you guys.
Owens Endeavors 