A Last Look Around

Leaving her family home and familiar surroundings to start afresh is made easier by Jan’s great companion

- HELEN FINCH

IT HAD taken a while for me to come to terms with the idea of moving to a new property. I’d been living in the same house since I was five, and moving was the last thing on my agenda. But as everyone knows, life sometimes has a way of directing you rather than you directing it.

And since I was alone now in a three-bedroom house, it had been suggested that the move was as much in my interest as a family of four waiting for a larger property.

Today was the big day. I’d had a phone call from the real-estate agent mid-morning telling me that if all went according to plan, I could be settled in my new home by teatime.

Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of my good friend and neighbour, Mrs Golightly, the movers were still packing up the last bits for me and having a disastrous time loading the truck.

Jake, my labrador, who’d insisted on following them up the ramp checking where everything was going, wasn’t helping them either.

Eventually, I called him back and we sat in the front garden where I could still keep tabs on things without Jake getting under their feet.

Fortunately, his bed and personal items were being transported with him. He always became so distressed if his favourite toy wasn’t close by. I was also concerned how he’d settle in to his new surroundings. Moving from a rural area to a town might upset his usual routine – and routines were something Jake and I were used to.