The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

How Many Times Have You Moved in Your Life?

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Bruce Gerencser

in

My sixty-fifth Birthday, 2022

I am a restless soul. Let me tell you why. I’ve moved thirty-six times in my sixty-five years of life. I’ve lived in 45+houses, apartments, and mobile homes.

Bryan, Ohio — born 1957
Ney, Ohio — toddler
San Diego, California — kindergarten to second grade
Bryan, Ohio — third grade
Harrod, Ohio — fourth, fifth grade
Farmer, Ohio — fifth, sixth grade
Deshler, Ohio — seventh grade
Findlay, Ohio — eighth grade to tenth grade
Tucson, Arizona — tenth grade
Mt. Blanchard, Ohio — eleventh grade
Findlay, Ohio — eleventh grade
Bryan, Ohio — dropped out of high school
Sierra Vista, Arizona — age 18
Bryan, Ohio — age 18
Pontiac, Michigan age 19-21, college, married Polly
Bryan, Ohio —1979
Montpelier, Ohio — 1979
Newark, Ohio — 1979-1981
Buckeye Lake, Ohio — 1981-1983
New Lexington, Ohio — 1983
Glenford, Ohio — 1983-1984
New Lexington, Ohio — 1984-1987
Junction City, Ohio — 1988-1989
Mt. Perry, Ohio — 1989-1994
San Antonio, Texas — 1994
Frazeysburg, Ohio — 1994-1995
Fayette, Ohio — 1995
Alvordton, Ohio 1996-2003
Clare, Michigan — 2003
Stryker, Ohio — 2003
Yuma, Arizona — 2004
Newark, Ohio — 2004-2005
Bryan, Ohio — 2005-2006
Alvordton, Ohio — 2007
Ney, Ohio — 2007 to present (my final resting place)

I still want to move. My wanderlust never goes away. However, I know I’m where I need to be, close to my doctors, children, and grandchildren. It is here I will die, though my ashes will be spread by Polly and my family on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Why? That’s a story for another day. ❤️❤️

Comments

16 responses to “How Many Times Have You Moved in Your Life?”

  1. Avatar
    Lacy

    I was born in San Antonio, Texas. Moved to Lawton, Ok when I was 3, then to Pasadena, Texas, Canyon Lake, Texas, San Antonio, Tx, Rockport, Tx, Port Aransas, Tx, back to San Antonio, Tx, Back to Port Aransas, Rockport, Tx, then to Springfield, Mo. Then, moved to Kerrville, Tx, where I now reside in the county. I plan on making a big move, hopefully to the East Coast, when my elderly parents are gone. For good.

    I have traveled all over North America, but never left the continent. I too, have wanderlust. Mostly to get out of this god-forsaken hell-hole that is my home state.

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    That’s a lot of moving! I can’t imagine packing and unpacking and packing…..

    Reply
    1. clubschadenfreude

      agreed. I’ve told my husband that if we ever move, we’re taking the cats, the computers and a few books we can’t part with. Everything else stays!

      Reply
    2. Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      We got very good at it. Add my OCPD into the mix, moving was a highly organized affair. 😂😂

      Reply
  3. Avatar
    Matilda

    There’s a joke about an isolationist area in the UK. (Maybe it’s a joke in other parts of the world too. IDK). A townie moves there and wants to get to know the locals so goes to the village pub and tries to strike up a conversation at the bar by asking a guy, ‘Have you lived here all your life?’ and gets the reply, ‘No, not yet.’

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      🤣🤣🤣

      Reply
  4. Avatar
    aylogogo77

    That’s a lot of moving. I bet you’ve saved boxes before! I can relate. Born in Gary, Indiana. Lived in Wales, Germany, England, and Brazil as a child and then Indiana, Ohio, and various places in Texas. Counting my birthplace I’ve lived 26 different places. Not quite as many as you but plenty. So different from the Indiana rural couple who lived the same place all their lives and then one day the husband switched the two chairs they used to watch TV together at night. When his wife asked why, he smiled. “I guess it’s the gypsy in me.”

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      Funny story. 🤣🤣 Your moves have an international flair. I’ve never been out of North America. 😢😢

      Reply
  5. MJ LIsbeth

    Happy Birthday, Bruce!

    Although I’ve lived outside the US, my life is not nearly as peripatetic as yours. Save for the time I lived in France and a brief stint in California, I’ve lived my entire life in, or within 100 kilometers of, New York City.

    Then again, I’ve lived in a bunch of different places within each locale. So I guess you can say I’ve done my share of moving–though, thankfully, I haven’t had to do so for 12 years.

    On the other hand, I’ve traveled a fair bit. .And I want to travel again, when the COVID situation and my financial situation permit. I wonder: Would I have the same wish to travel if I’d had to move more often–and to more different places–than I have.

    Reply
  6. Avatar
    … Zoe ~

    You and Biker Dude have the same birthday. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      Awesome. ❤️❤️So does Garfield, the Cat 🐱 and Charles Spurgeon. 🤣🤣

      Reply
  7. Avatar
    Bruce Gerencser

    I have empirical evidence for every place I’ve ever lived. If you can provide the same evidence for the existence of Hell, I’ll add it to the list. Until then, all I see is your anus flapping (probably from too much 🍆🍆🍆).

    🤣🤣🤣Ha! Ha! Ha! Buddy boy. 🤣🤣🤣

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Sage

      Well, you lived in AZ, so….😂🤣😂🔥🔥🔥

      Reply
  8. Byroniac

    Revival Fires is wrong according to Revelation, because Christian theology actually asserts that the Lake of Fire is the final destination, not Hell. So that’s really two places he needs to provide evidence for, and even with all the hullabaloo about near-death experiences of Hell, I haven’t heard of one yet that describes the Lake of Fire. I’m not sure if there is an afterlife or not (I’m hopeful for a benevolent one), or if there is a hell or a heaven on top of that, but if I die and wind up in an eternal Baptist church service of a revival service with 200 refrains of “Just As I Am” I will have a very good idea of what kind of afterlife I will be having.

    Reply
  9. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    Ah so Revival Fires is now the arbiter of Bruce’s final destination? That’s interesting. I don’t remember reading about that in the Bible.

    ***it always goes back to threats of hell with these evangelicals, doesn’t it? They love it.

    Reply
  10. Avatar
    Karuna Gal

    Love that photo of you and Polly at the beginning of the post. You look like two old hippies living off the grid in the mountains of Northern California. 🙂

    Reply

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