You’ve had a pretty good summer so far. You’ve had your share of ups and downs but it’s been nothing you couldn’t handle. You’ve been busy at work but not so busy that you can’t spend most afternoons with the kids at the pool. The weather’s been nothing to complain about and you even took a vacation. You dug into your savings account to take the trip, but it was worth it.
When you get home, it feels like storm clouds begin to roll over your sunny days. After you’ve unloaded the car, you notice that something is amiss in the backyard. There are shards of wood and bark scattered across the lawn. You visit your neighbor and she tells you your 100-year-old willow tree has been struck by lightning. Your husband puts a call into the tree guys. Your friends tell you it’s going to be expensive but you’ve had a pretty good summer so far. How expensive can it be? These things happen. That’s what the savings account is for.
Six days later, the tree expert finally returns your husband’s call and comes over to take a look. Because the tree didn’t do any damage to the house, insurance won’t cover it. He then bores you all to tears with 45 minutes of chit chat about his incompetent lawyer, his aging cat and his gout and then he tells you it will be $1,900 to take care of the tree. You try not to let it get you down. It’s just money. It could be worse.
The next morning, you are driving to a doctor’s appointment when all of a sudden, the car sounds unusually loud. You take a peek underneath and notice the tail pipe is rusted and falling off. Didn’t that $600 muffler come with a lifetime warranty? You must have the paperwork somewhere. Still, your mind is filled with the image of a sink filled with cash. It’s all going down the drain.
You’ve come to the doctor to have a mole removed from your leg. As soon as he gets out the long shiny needle and the Lidocaine, you instantly wish you had brought your husband or a friend to the appointment with you. You hadn’t been thinking about experiencing any pain, just that the mole would disappear. The young nurse lets you squeeze her hand as the doctor does his work. You try not to feel embarrassed at your dependence on a stranger. They’ll have the mole tested at the lab and they’ll call you when the results come back. The nurse gives your hand another squeeze and helps you to the door.
When you get home, you decide you need to unwind for a minute so you check your email and read a message from your friend, who has taken over full-time care of her mother-in-law, who suffers from dementia. Your friend can’t meet you at the zoo today; her mother-in-law is having a bad day. Another friend posts a note on Facebook that her husband finally has an appointment with a pain management doctor. It’s been five months since his car accident. You feel ashamed for letting the tree and the muffler and the mole get you down. Is it really that bad?
You are startled from your relaxation by a loud noise outside. The tree guy has come with his crane, dump truck, chain saws, and chipper. You know you’ll never be able to withstand that noise all afternoon. You shut your laptop and decide to take the kids to the town pool. You are embarrassed by the loud noise your car is now making so you convince the kids it would be more fun to ride your bikes there. It has turned cloudy. The water at the pool is cold but you are happy to be out of the house and spending time with friends.
When you get home, the yard is silent. The tree is gone and the grass is worse for the wear. You make dinner and miraculously everyone eats silently and without complaint. Perhaps missing the tree or tired from the swimming and the long bike ride, the children play quietly together and go to bed when they are told.
After they are settled, you and your husband sit down to watch “Project Runway” together and he notices that the top third of the television screen is fuzzy and discolored. It even happens when he changes the channel. You calculate that you’ve had the television for almost five years. Aren’t they supposed to last longer?
You are distracted by the fact that Heidi Klum’s head is now purple and fuzzy. You go upstairs to bed and as you are falling asleep, you take stock of things. Your leg is beginning to throb in the place where the mole was removed but the nurse who held your hand was sweet and kind and asked you about your vacation while the doctor was cutting your skin. The car will be fixed by the end of the week and although you couldn’t find the warranty paperwork, at least you won’t have to ride your bikes everywhere. The tree guys have been paid in full and will hopefully never have to return to your property.
You close your eyes. You don’t know this now, but tomorrow you will get a phone call saying that you’ve been given an interview for that part-time job you applied for. You’ll get an email from your uncle and aunt inviting you to join them at Disney World next July. You’ll find a dollar on the sidewalk in front of the grocery store. Your daughter will write a story about astronauts and your son will make funny noises in his armpit and your husband will kiss you when he comes home from work covered in paint and sawdust. Each day has endless possibilities. You’ve had a pretty good summer so far.
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