You don’t even know the half of our moving day adventure. We skimmed over it before because we wanted to share clean photos of our old place and the new house’s interior, but this story deserved telling. Buckle up and get ready for the ride. As we mentioned earlier, the day began with an unexpected snowstorm. And although it wasn’t a Friday, the thirteenth being a Monday still felt appropriately unlucky—especially on closing and moving day.
The snow was beautiful, but it sparked a chain of small disasters. First, it knocked out power at our attorney’s office, making communications and file transfers harder and contributing to a closing delay until the following day. That was inconvenient but manageable compared to what happened next:
Yes—that’s our 26-foot U-Haul truck stuck in a ditch, blocking two lanes. And it was the ditch at the end of the driveway we had just sold. In other words, the truck we were driving was lodged in someone else’s yard about an hour before the new owners were due back with the keys. To make matters worse, the truck was leaning on their mailbox.
Here’s how it happened. Sherry was waiting at my sister’s house with Clara and Burger while we finished the paperwork and moved into the new place. I had been dropped off at our old house to meet the buyers and their agent for a final walk-through to confirm the house was vacant and in the same condition. The walk-through went fine, the buyers drove off to close, and I followed behind in the packed truck. By the time I realized something was wrong, they were already too far ahead to witness it. Snow had hidden the edge of the driveway, and while I was concentrating on keeping the truck’s front end clear of the opposite ditch, the back slipped off. Add in my limited experience driving a large truck and the ditch won the contest.
Sherry remembers the scene differently, in the form of an all-too-short phone call:
JOHN: Hey Sherry. Walk-through went fine. They’re off to close and I’m headed to the new house.
SHERRY: Okay, be very careful. It’s snowy—drive as slow as you need, even if people are honking. Just take your time.
JOHN: I will. Don’t worry.
SHERRY: Great. I just don’t want you ending up in a ditch or anything.
[HANG UP, SHERRY STARTS TO PUT HER PHONE DOWN. IT RINGS AGAIN IMMEDIATELY.]
JOHN: Crap, the truck is in a ditch and I think I knocked over the mailbox.
SHERRY: You’re kidding, right?
[END SCENE]
At the time we were both in full-blown disaster mode, imagining broken possessions and a long wait for a tow truck—which would surely upset the new owners returning with their keys. Luckily, none of those fears came true. The mailbox didn’t fall, and the tow truck arrived surprisingly fast given the storm and all the other vehicles stuck in ditches. Within about half an hour the truck was freed. I carefully drove it the remaining short distance to the new house.
I contacted the new owners’ agent and agreed to replace the cracked mailbox post. Between that and the tow truck fee to pull the U-Haul out of the ditch, the incident cost us $185. Definitely annoying, but far better than smashed furniture, a delayed closing, or worse. Even with the back of the truck dropping about 18 inches when it slipped off the driveway, nothing we unpacked was broken—a small miracle. Reaching our new home after that chaos felt especially rewarding, like we’d survived a ridiculous obstacle course and finally arrived where we belonged.
That night I tried to make up for the chaos by surprising Sherry with a small housewarming gift:
The necklace felt meaningful because the turtle is a symbol of steadfastness, patience, and being at home within yourself. As we moved from one house to another, it was a nice reminder that home follows us wherever we go. Coincidentally (or not), the U-Haul we got stuck in had a giant turtle logo on the side—an odd little echo of the sentiment.
So that’s the story of Monday the 13th: a snowy moving day, a ditch, a cracked mailbox post, and an expensive but relatively small lesson in humility. In the end we made it into our new home safe and sound—and with a good story to tell.