By MARY BETH GALARNEAU
Our clients move for a lot of different reasons. Some are recent empty-nesters who have been planning all along to happily pack up and move the minute their kids are out of the house. Others have health issues or prefer a maintenance-free lifestyle. There are those who want to move closer to their adult children to see their grandchildren grow up. Then there are those who move because they lost a spouse and their house is too much to keep up with alone. This was the case with Mrs. O., who we recently moved from her Latham home to an apartment in Watervliet.
They say after a spouse passes away, you should put off decisions about a change in lifestyle for at least a year. Mrs. O. took her time, three years, to be exact, deciding what do with the Colonial house she shared with her husband for 18 years. The yard work got to be too much, as did shoveling the snow. Emotionally, it was hard to go into certain rooms because the memories of her husband were just too much. It was time to start over. Mrs. O. planned for the move for a over a year, checking out many apartments and senior living facilities with her sister-in-law. Eventually she settled on Hudson Preserve Apartments in Watervliet. She assumed she would start packing and hire a moving company to execute the move. That is, until she heard about Organize Senior Moves.
“I didn’t know a company like this existed,” said Mrs. O. who heard about it from a co-worker. On her own, she would’ve had to purchase boxes, tape, bubble wrap and fretted about when to find the time to pack up a house after working two part-time jobs. Nor did she want to burden her family, who had their own lives and worries to tend to. Hiring OSM solved all that.
“They were very helpful. They have such a good rhythm and routine,” and, she marveled, “nothing was broken.”
One thing Mrs. O. particularly appreciated was how OSM took care of all donations, especially her husband’s clothes, which she hasn’t seen or touched since his passing. The OSM team donated everything to the Albany City Mission. “When the clothes left the house, it felt different,” she admitted, but it was also a good feeling knowing they would benefit others.
Another thing that surprised her was how everything was placed in as close to the same spot in her new apartment, as it was in her house. “I was wondering where the clock I had in my bathroom was, only to find it in my new bathroom,” she said laughing. “Everything was set up identical; it was the coolest thing.”
OSM’s services include everything from helping to sort through clutter before a move, to hanging artwork at the end of a move. “When you sit down and think about how much everything costs, it was well worth the money,” she said.
While OSM can’t take away the emotional side of moving, they can certainly help with the physical side. “They alleviated all of the stress involved with packing and moving.”
“I would most certainly hire Organize Senior Moves again,” Mrs. O., when asked if she would use OSM’s services again. For OSM, a repeat customer is the best endorsement they can ever get.
Organize Senior Moves is a senior move management company based in Delmar. They can help with as much or as little involved in downsizing your home, in addition to decluttering, organizing and home-staging services. Call for a free one-hour consultation: 518.621.6568 or visit organizeseniormoves.com.
