And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Hello,
By the time this post is live, I should be on the tail end of moving out of the house I’ve lived on for almost ten years. As you might expect, it’s definitely a bittersweet experience. As I said before in a previous post, I’m planning to move back to Indonesia. It’s a move that’s been a long time coming, and if it hadn’t been for covid, it would have been done years ago.
But it’s one thing to move house, quite another to say goodbye to a lot of things you have taken for granted. Unfortunately for me, I have collected for myself a bunch of stuff in a place that soon I will no longer call home. And in the last few months, I have been digging into all those things, and deciding on whether to keep them or to throw them away1.
At first, most of the stuff I threw/gave away were junk that I didn’t care much about to begin with; they had little to no value, sentimental or otherwise. But eventually it came time that I say goodbye to something that held more sentimental value to me than the roof over my head: my car.
This green Toyota Camry first came into my life in 2013, when I was still in college, and about two years before I live in my current house2. I went through many things with this car from a slippery road in New Jersey while going to a concert with church friends to an accident in Maryland while at work. I drove to three jobs with this car, not including my time driving for DoorDash3. There were also the time when I worked for the TSA at the Dulles Airport and I got a flat tire and had to go to an auto shop close to the airport, twice. And speaking of that job, I also remember being stuck on traffic at the Capital Beltway for eight hours4 because of an inch of snow.
I can go on with these stories. The point is that I have a lot of memories with this car. But when I finally sold the car, I didn’t feel much of anything. After all, it’s just a car. And by the time it was sold, I had already been using my younger brother’s car since I was trying to keep my car’s resale value.
In fact, the most immediate feeling I had selling the car was one of bemusement. Why? Because one retailer tried to lowball me. I checked two car retailers online and asked for what they will offer for my car. The first retailer offered me $7,000. The other one offered me $850.
No, I’m not missing a zero. They actually offered me $850 for the car. I’m not a car expert by any means, but I can’t help but feel insulted by that offer. I know the car had accumulated some serious mileage and the brakes make noises, but I know it’s not an $850 car.
As you might expect, I went with the $7,000 offer. And funnily enough, the retailer that offered me $850 had been raising the offer since, even though I already sold the car. The first raise was to $5,400 then $5,500; the current offer they’re giving me is $6,000. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up giving me a higher offer than the one that I went with. But hey, they shouldn’t have lowballed me like that.
So much for the car.
As for the house, I remember feeling very reluctant to let go of the house that I’ve lived in for so long. But now I’m happier about it. Perhaps it was because I’m looking forward to my new life in Indonesia. Or maybe now that I’ve met the new owners, I’m just glad to see the joy they have over this house that I myself used to have5. It also helps that I’ve gotten some cash in hand.
But even as I leave Silver Spring, Maryland behind, it has left a mark that will stay with me. For one thing, just take a look at this picture of me that I put in the About page of my main Substack:
This photo was actually taken from the front door of my (soon-to-be former) house. I don’t want to to doxx the guy who will move into my house, so I won’t post a picture of the house itself.
Sometimes, it’s just good to let go.
Until next time, Michael P. Marpaung
Which include donating them to the local thrift store or pawning them for some extra cash.
As of the writing of this blogpost.
And other delivery apps.
Perhaps even more.
Which have since dulled out because I’ve been here for almost 10 years.
I understand the car thing completely. I grew up in an environment where people switched cars like, maybe every two or three years - not always new, but always buying new stuff - but, because my dad gave me his Hyundai Elantra in 2013 for free, I hung on to that thing forever and put 300,000 miles on it. He basically made me sell it against my will and get a new one. He didn't get why it was a big deal to me. Best of luck with your move.
Wow! This is a big move! I hope you're going to write all about your reentry. That's a big deal. It can be an unexpected mind trip. Selamat Jalan!