Understanding Limits

I'm getting too old for this.

It wasn't that long ago when a round trip to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was no problem. When Kid 1 was attending Sheridan College, in Oakville, I would often drive down to pick her up and bring her home for holidays. On those days, I would leave home after breakfast and drive the four-and-a-half hours to her campus, pick her up, and drive home.

I'd only stop for gas and a quick bite. Almost always, I'd call her just when I was about five minutes away, telling Kid 1 to head outside of her residence. I'd pull up, she'd hop in, and I would head back to Ottawa.

Essentially, it was a 10-hour day of driving.

In her final year, we gave her our Honda CR-V to take for the semester, so that she could drive herself. It was less stain on me and gave her more experience behind the wheel.

And like me, she likes to drive.

With Kid 2 at University of Toronto, I'd make similar trips but she was more determined to stay in the city. And when she did come to visit, she'd often take the train.

By then, I was starting to feel the wear and tear on my body, sitting behind the wheel for so long.

The longest trip was last year, when Kid 2 was moving to a new apartment, and her friends bailed on her at the last minute for helping her move. Most importantly, her friend with access to a van had something come up and Kid 2 had no way to get her things transported.

So I reserved a U-Haul truck, in Toronto, for the moving day. On the day of her move, I left home shortly before 6 a.m., drove straight to the U-Haul lot, picked up the truck, and went to Kid 2's apartment. I had only stopped for gas, in Napanee, and grabbed an A&W breakfast sandwich, and ate it on the go.

By the time I reached Kid 2's place, it was almost 11. It took about 45 minutes at U-Haul to get my reserved vehicle because I apparently arrived at the busiest time of the morning, and there was a long line ahead of me.

Luckily, one of Kid 2's stronger friends showed up to help move the heaviest of her furniture out, but had an appointment that he had to get to, so my kid and I loaded the rest of the truck ourselves. At her new place, she and I unloaded all of the contents of the truck, except for the three heaviest pieces: her dresser, a shelving unit, and her mattress.

Luckily, her friend's appointment was short and he was able to arrive and help us with those pieces. His help was really appreciated, as Kid 2 was moving to the third floor of a house, where the stairways and hallways were very narrow.

By the time we had her stuff unloaded, her bed assembled, and things put mostly into place, I was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily (this was before my lung issues), and exhausted. But we weren't done yet.

I still had to return the truck, which I had only rented for four hours, and that time was almost up. I put some gas in it, returned it, and reclaimed my own car before returning to Kid 2's place. There was still one more thing to do.

I took Kid 2 to a grocery store and told her to load up a shopping cart. While we were there, we realized that neither of us had eaten or had any liquid during the entire move. I wanted to take her somewhere for dinner, but the day was wearing on and I still had to drive home.

She picked up a frozen pizza and an energy drink, and said she'd just make herself dinner when she got back to her apartment. I grabbed an energy drink, too, and called it at that.

I dropped her at her new home, gave her a hug, and jumped back in the car. By the time I got home, it was around midnight. On the trip home, I only had a five-minute stop for fuel at the same station where I had refueled on the drive down, but this time I didn't also stop for food. I just wanted to get home.

I knew I couldn't do that again, this weekend, when Kid 2 was moving yet again.

This time, DW came with me. This time, we were going to drive down one day, stay overnight, move Kid 2, and then drive home. This time, I wasn't going to burn myself out in one day.

My lungs really show their limitations when I climb stairs. And, on Saturday, according to my smart watch, I climbed 67 flights. I walked almost nine kilometres.

But at least, I got a good night's sleep between driving to Toronto and starting the move.

Still, it was exhausting. Once again, Kid 2 didn't have any friends to help, not even her friend who gave us an hour, last time, to move the heavy things. But with DW there, I at least had someone to help.

As we placed the last bit of our daughters' belongings into her new place (a second-floor apartment, also with narrow stairs and corridors), I told DW that I had reached my limit. My body was too old for this. The next time our kid moves, we're hiring muscle.

The view from Kid 2's new rooftop patio. Not too shabby.

Even though we took many breaks and kept the truck almost two hours longer than I had rented it for, I was exhausted after the move. This time, though, we ate lunch.

DW and I pulled into our garage at 10:00 on Saturday night and we were both exhausted. Because Kid 2's new place had central heating and air conditioning, and her closet doors were mirrored, she no longer needed the portable AC unit that we provided over the summer nor her stand-up mirror, so we threw them in the back of our Niro. But once home, we were too tired to unload them.

That would have to happen in the morning.

We had foolishly made plans to join some friends, on Sunday, to return to Barron Canyon, in Algonquin Provincial Park, for one last (very last) paddle of the season. As we drove home, on Saturday night, we questioned the wisdom of such a big paddle the day after a big move and long drive, but we agreed that we could still do it.

We went straight to bed when we got in the house and set our alarms for 5 a.m. the next morning.

My brain might not yet understand my limitations but my body does. When my alarm went off, I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. And within a minute, I realized that my head was splitting. I took a couple of extra-strength Advil capsules, but as I was washing them down, I knew I had a full-blown migraine.

I crawled back into bed, breathing heavily. I also started shivering uncontrollably, so DW notified our friends that I was out of commission.

I suffered for about an hour, until I passed out, and slept until a little after 10. I still didn't get out of bed until about noon, and my body was in pain from head to toe: headache, sore joints, and muscle pain.

I'm not young anymore. Maybe, young at heart, but my body has taught me that it has limits. And it has taught me that I must listen to and obey those limits.

I spent most of yesterday recovering. I may also need some of today. Luckily, I work from home and from behind a desk.

I won't be burning myself out any time soon.