As dawn broke across the eastern horizon this morning, my cellphone rang.  The caller, a truck driver for Pods, announced he was half an hour away from our apartment complex.

Alice jumped up and down with joy, erasing any reminders of the good night’s sleep we shared.  I told our newfound savior that Alice and I would drive over to the entrance and show him where to unload the container.

A cup of coffee later, with the Ford Escape’s engine defrosting a sheet of ice covering the windshield, a white container with an identifiable red-and-black Pod logo passed by the entrance.  I pulled out my phone and had the pocket-sized mobile device hail our early-morning caller.

“You just went by us,” I said.

“Yes, I know,” the driver replied.  “I overshot the turnoff.  I’m turning around now.”

Within two minutes, a bearded young truck driver hauling a Pod container pulled through the entrance, and we led the way to where maintenance men had sealed off five parking spaces.  A mobile engine-run device nestled underneath the container to secure the shipment in place.

The bearded wonder operated Pod’s engineering marvel, which unshackled the heavy-laden Pod, lifted it up, wheeled it around the truck effortlessly and gingerly positioned the bulky container onto a parking space, all within 10 minutes.  Once the truck was unloaded, the Pod driver stayed with us as Alice and I spent more than 20 minutes to unlock its vertically sliding door.  He also helped us maneuver precariously jammed contents around the door to reveal thoughtlessly placed artwork inside.

Once left on our own, Alice addressed her dearest possessions jammed inside.  The vacuum cleaner was perched atop boxes by the sliding door.  While retrieving the rug-cleaning marvel usually taken for granted, we exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

All our stuff appears to be inside.

Alice said her thanks to St. Jude and St. Joseph.  And exhausted, she now sleeps on the futon, our makeshift bed for the last eight weeks and three days.

We both took photos, and are glad to share them.  Beyond the happiness we feel today, we have good reason to be thankful.

It’s a little early, I know, to extend best wishes to one and all.  But it doesn’t matter.  For us, Thanksgiving 2014 is an ideal time to give thanks and count our blessings.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!