The U-Haul in the Driveway: A Symbol of New Beginnings

Every time I see a U-Haul or a moving truck in our neighborhood it always makes me think about new beginnings.

For me, there's nothing that makes me think about new beginnings as much as that U-Haul, or that semi squeezed in on a residential street being loaded with a family's possessions. It makes me wonder where are they going? What are they moving on to? What exciting adventure awaits them?

My mind wonders about those questions quite often in our current neighborhood. We live on a street that's mostly rental duplexes. Filled with UCM students and airmen from Whiteman Air Force Base. So there doesn't seem to be a month where I don't see a U-Haul in a driveway, or at the very least someone filling a truck or trailer with stuff from their apartment.

As a kid my family didn't move much. We moved from Missouri, to Philadelphia, to an apartment in the suburbs of Chicago, then to our family home in the Chicago suburbs all by the time I was seven years old. My parents didn't move again until I had my own place.

On the other hand my wife Kathy and I have moved a-lot in our adult life. We moved to Champaign, Illinois ; then Joliet, Illinois; Morris, Illinois when we were married; Lansing, Michigan; back to Morris, Illinois; Lafayette, Indiana; Lubbock, Texas; Davenport, Iowa and now Warrensburg.

Many of these moves represented new beginnings for us. New jobs. New life experiences. And new adventures. Some had happy endings, others presented challenges or didn't turn out all that well. And some presented curve ball challenges no one could see coming. Yet, there was nothing like a new apartment, a new job, and that optimistic view of the here and now.

Whether you're graduating UCM and moving on. Moving to a new military assignment. Or wrapping up your service and moving on to something new somewhere else. Blessings on you, your family, and your new adventure. Enjoy the feeling of something new.

For me, I've moved a lot in the past three years. I think I'd like to stick around and enjoy this current adventure for awhile. It's going pretty good too.