Moving back home from home

By Jeff Orvis

In the days leading up to the big day, I kept telling friends and family that a week after the move, I would have the chance to sit back and sigh with relief. Well, here it is, almost two weeks later and I missed that target by almost a week.

Long story short, I have moved from Davenport back to Belle Plaine and so far, it has been a very wise decision.

About three years ago, I made the tough decision to leave here and move back to the Quad-Cities, where Mom generously agreed to clean out the spare bedroom for me. I did my best to clean out a two-story, three bedroom house, moving some belongings to a storage unit and loading up the van for the trip to Davenport. It was my intention to look for work there and eventually move into an apartment. After a couple of frustrating years of searching, I began to come to grips with advancing age and I scaled back my search.

Then August, 2012 came along and my focus shifted to being chief decision maker for Mom. I don't want to repeat that month ever again from the standpoint of watching as she suffered through three major surgeries and we ultimately made the agonizing decision to give her back to God. But even as I reflect on that tough month, I realize that He has had a hand in my life all along, especially since I left here in 2010. I had the chance to to reconnect with Mom for nearly two years. We didn't always agree - especially on politics and religion. But on the whole, I will cherish those times and some great memories.

Since her passing in September, 2012, I have been devoted to settling her estate. When I agreed to be the executor, I really had no inkling of what was involved. But thanks to family, good friends and a patient attorney, the estate is almost settled. We sold her condo and I knew I had to find a new place to live.

I have to admit that there were many hours of doubt that all this would fall into place. But I truly believe that if you "let go and let God," good things can happen. My sister was one of the true champions in my corner when I finally decided to set my goal to return to a small town in east central Iowa, where many of my friends still lived. Although she has spent the majority of her adult life living in places where a reliable automobile becomes your best friend, she listened when I talked about some of the amazing relationships I had established in this great small town.

So many things had to fall into place in just the right order to make this move happen. I made one trip back here to look at the apartment I eventually rented. Although I hadn't met my eventual landlords before, having spent more than 10 years here helped. I know several of their sons and despite the fact that my reputation preceded me, they agreed to make me their tenant.

Then came the move arrangements. I have a couple of good friends in Davenport, Eric and Lynn, who looked after Mom before I moved back to Davenport like she was their mom. They transferred that care to me after Mom was gone, so I guess I was lucky to inherit an unofficial brother and sister. They helped me pack up stuff and Eric and their son, Aaron, sacrificed a Saturday to drive the truck and unload.

It's difficult to explain to some folks who have not experienced life in a small town. But the first day I began running errands here, people called out to me on the street, in the stores and the bank. They remembered me, even though I had only visited once in three years. You don't get that kind of attention in a larger city.

I left a neighborhood where you could get a sub sandwich at five different shops, groceries at one of at least four places or a hamburger at nearly a dozen restaurants within a two-mile radius of the condo. But not once did anyone at any of those places know my name. I have told my sister that if she needs to contact me and I don't answer the phone, she can call any one of a half-dozen folks here in Belle Plaine and they will find me. Try that in Davenport, or any other large city, where it's way too easy to disappear.

People I meet ask what my future plans are. I am not really sure. For now, I plan on taking time for rest and reflection and more frequent blog entries. I want to stay involved in this community, through church, occasional visits to City Hall and downtown businesses and maybe an occasional visit to a city council or school board meeting. I have not severed ties with my old hometown. I still subscribe to the electronic edition of the Davenport newspaper and check in several times a week with Eric and Lynn. And in this era of social networking, friends and family are only a couple of keystrokes away.