Life on Argon Street...part deux

Current mood: okay



Chapter two....The Move from HELL



Actually that title will come into play several times in our lives over the next 18 years, but for now, the move from Tempe into Mesa onto Argon Street will turn out to be the roughest move we had ever experienced.

The Universe was giving me every sign to reconsider at the time, but I was a typical Taurus. I had my sights set on moving into the house on Argon. Plant roots like my parents did and raise grandchildren in that house if necessary. The recent death of Cathy's mom had cut the heart out of her family, leaving just about everyone shell shocked. Most of our friends were all busy with their lives, so for the first time ever, we were pretty much on our own to move a 2100 sq ft house across town and squeeze it into a 1200 sq ft house. No small feat indeed!

The morning the movers were to come load everything, Cathy and Lori both were vomiting up their bootheels. We were still feverishly packing the tail ends of things, so in addition to the movers, we were taking endless trips back and forth between the two houses, trying to get everything moved in time. We almost ran out of time, and ended up losing a large chunk of our cleaning deposit.

The house itself was laid out nicely. Large living room up front, three bedrooms down the hall. Corridor kitchen with a raised oven. And that sweet family room with the full wall fireplace. We started to take assessment of the neighborhood and the many families that already dwelled within. I noticed each house seemed to have its own personality. You could tell right away which houses already had kids living in them. You could tell which houses were either empty nests or never raised children. You could spot the yuppies; you could tell who took excellent care of their homes, and those who just didn't give a damn. And you could pick out the rentals pretty easily too. Looking back, I could hear the strains of music in my brain as I recall a lot of the houses. As I remember our house, I hear the theme song from "The Addams Family". As I gazed north across to Michael & Connie's house, the screech of "Psycho" would play. Next door to the east? "The Waltons"...A nice father and son; very Americana. To the west; "Georgia on My Mind"...an older Southern Belle living alone since her husband passed away a few years pervious. The old Italian couple across the way..."That's Amore". This neighborhood certainly had its own flavor.

And it would not be long before we started to find out just how flavorful, how colorful this neighborhood would turn out to be. If I hadn't been so giddy about being a homeowner for the first time, I would have noticed and paid attention to the warning bells starting to go off in the back of my mind. And I was still a very young man in his twenties. Very naive and forgiving, never one to think the worst of people, trusting in the innate goodness in everyone.

Was I about to get an education.

While we were still unpacking, a knock came at the door. Standing on our front porch was one of the cutest little girls I had ever seen. Reddish blonde straight hair, and a bright shining face full of sunshine and a smattering on freckles flecked across the bridge of her nose. She couldn't have been more than 5 years of age and all of 3 foot tall.


"Hi! I'm SaraLyn. Do you have any kids that I can play with?"

"Yes, we do. Our daughter Lori; she's only one and a half, but you're welcome to come on in and meet her"

And so began one of the finest friendships in the history of mankind.