If we thought we were tired then, we had reached a whole new mind-numbing level of tiredness by the time we left Delray.
A few days before closing I called Denise one last time to see if we really were going to close. “Nothing’s left, right Denise? Nothing’s left? We are really and truly closing? ‘Cause I don’t want to be in such a panic if it’s not really closing.” Not that I was cynical by then, oh no.
Denise reassured me that everything was fine, but she’d check with the title company. Within the hour I had an email from Ali, the title guy, letting me know that the buyer’s title company had unearthed a twenty-five-year-old building permit that was still open. They were requiring that it be settled before closing.
I had no idea what he was talking about. We hadn’t even owned the home back then, and that open permit had apparently successfully survived at least five closings since then. There was no point in arguing. I dug through old paperwork I’d inherited, putting things together, coordinating with Ali.
In the midst of our already overwhelmed lives we had to drop everything, borrow Ivar’s van, and make the hour’s drive up to the county government buildings in West Palm Beach. Though the original permit’s total cost was twenty dollars, we had to pay a one-hundred-dollar fee to reopen the permit and had to get a final inspection.
It was then close-of-business on Friday afternoon. Our closing date was Tuesday, one business day later. Could we even do this?
Luck was with us. With one of those “we’ll explain later” explanations, we texted Alex with a request to borrow the hundred dollars. We’d just paid bills in anticipation of closing. We talked to a friendly and cooperative building inspector who got our paperwork sorted and arranged for us to have an inspection Monday morning. Then we drove the hour back home and crossed our fingers, sweating it out over the weekend.
Monday Feb 13
The inspector came early on Monday and signed off immediately, sitting in his truck in our driveway to post the approval online and get it in the county records. We got notice later Monday that we’d close on Thursday.
Our living room couches, with vivid memories dating all the way back to our early days in the Czech Republic, were moved on that afternoon to their new home, leaving the living room empty of all but my desk, chair, our two Travel Chairs, and all the boxes headed to storage.
My well-used and much-loved king-size bed went to the street to be picked by Willo with bulk trash the next morning. Getting into the spirit of the trip, I set up a makeshift bed and slept on the floor for the next three nights. Chelsea had already been on the floor for a month.
Meanwhile, aside from packing and moving, we’d written a well-chosen bucket list for things we wanted to do before we left Delray Beach. After all, we’d lived there for eleven action-packed years.
High on the list was eating at Chaiyo, a local Thai restaurant with outstanding food and service, one where we’d spent many happy hours over the years. As a Christmas present, Alex and Amanda gave us a much-cherished gift certificate for Chaiyo, so it was an easy top-of-the-list choice.
Tuesday Feb 14
Tuesday night, hot, tired and dusty after a brutal day of packing and moving, we decided to use our gift certificate. On arriving we were shocked at the length of the line out the door…we’d been so busy we had no idea it was Valentine’s Day! As Chelsea and I were the only ones in the long line who were willing to eat at the low tables, sitting cross-legged in the traditional way, we went to the front of the line. There are unexpected benefits to being physically fit and able to sit in small spaces.
We look back now and see that dinner as the only moment of peace in the following eight days. The food was wonderful as always, we got a long-stemmed red rose each, we got to sit in one spot quietly for a whole hour and be waited on, and we got to pretend that life was normal for a few minutes.
Even at Chaiyo though, the moving inserted itself.
We’d made arrangements earlier in the day to sell Alex’s hookah. We’d had it for sale for quite awhile and wanted to move it on, so we agreed to meet the buyer in the parking lot at Chaiyo, texting each other during dinner to make arrangements. We loved meeting the young man who bought the hookah, and took some time to just chat, though we felt guilty at spending time away from packing and moving.
Wednesday Feb 15
Though a gorgeous day, Wednesday morning came too early. By that time Chelsea and I were operating on will power. With a little over twenty-four hours to closing, we were out of energy with way too much remaining to do.
As if the universe heard us and knew we needed a break, we spotted painted buntings in our ‘brushy tangle’ while having our morning bagel and shake. For the next two hours we watched and photographed a set of two male and three female painted buntings, as well as an unusual variety of other infrequent bird visitors.
Since we’d spent so much time over the years watching our bird buddies, this felt like a grand send-off party on our next-to-last day. Though the tension was creeping up our backs with little fingers of anxiety, we knew we’d regret it forever if we didn’t take the time to savor and record this.
Much refreshed after our bird-watching break in the fabulous weather, we headed back into the packing and moving war.
We quickly and efficiently packed up boxes to be sent ahead to Gueydan or to be sent off to others. Chelsea kept scanning till the last minute. I’m sure the scanner was still warm as she packed it in its box. I completed last minute packing of things that were going to storage, like bedding and dishes.
Though we questioned our sanity, both of us took an hour to thoughtfully and methodically remove an eleven-year eclectic collection of stickers that had been taped or ‘adhesived’ to Alex’s door over the years.
We carefully preserved ticket stubs to concerts, band stickers, bumper stickers, hotel room-status door hangers, and a motley crew of other memories for him. He couldn’t take the door with him, and it seemed such a shame to lose all those fun memories. It was our gift of love to Alex.
By early afternoon we were hotter and sweatier than ever moving boxes to storage by ourselves, including muscling Bunny Queen and Lizard King out the door, into the van, and into their resting places in the storage space.
Despite our hectic schedule, it wasn’t an option to miss Alex’s Improv appearance at the Hard Rock Casino in Fort Lauderdale, so Wednesday night saw us freshly showered, very tired, wearing dresses and jewelry, headed to Fort Lauderdale.
As always, we thoroughly enjoyed being part of it all, seeing the long line-up of comics with their drastically varied skills, the sometimes rude and raucous audiences, the time spent afterward talking to friends and relatives and critiquing the night. Alex is so awesome and we are so impressed at his courage and determination to start his stand-up comedy career.
We also had the bittersweet realization that this would be our last time to see Alex doing his live comedy in a long, long while. It was hard not to get teary in front of Alex.