Construction Chronicles Revisited

In mid July we had a heavy, driving rain that held me accountable for my procrastination over dealing with the roof of my house. Yep, I knew when I bought the house that the roof needed a facelift. I opted for the botox remedy of tar patching last fall, but it failed miserably. The rain made it from the south dormer of my attic through to my first floor kitchen counter with a stop in the second floor guestroom along the way. I was saving for a hearing aid prior to the roof blowout. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't feel a little sorry for myself that I have to pay for a hearing aid that my insurance won't cover, that I'm only 44 and need one, and that I will now have to postpone it in order to save my home.

Turns out my builder brother was having a slow spell and needed work about that time. He agreed to reroof my house for a great price, and my roofing contractor neighbor sold me the supplies at wholesale. My roof is now beautiful, dry, and will last me 25 years. And I spent more time with my brother those three days of the project than I have since we were kids.

I just finished my last class for my associates degree. It's taken me nineteen years and 84 credit hours in intermittent attempts to complete it. The completion of my degree feels much like the completion of my roof, in that it was a nagging issue that is finally resolved. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the learning experience and I know I've grown through it. It's just that I procrastinated for so many years because of my responsibilities to home and husband - homes and husbands that are now part of my history - that my education has become somewhat of a mission to myself to reclaim what I had set aside.

Celebration is not what I feel right now. It is a sense of relief, of freedom, of resolution. I have done what I needed to do for myself. It's a solid, good feeling, like knowing that when it rains my home will stay dry.