Last week I couldn’t remember the last time I got my car washed. I had no time. Things have been incredibly hectic this summer; the death of Dorothy, my beloved mother-in-law being the pinnacle of it all. We stayed with my father-in-law almost 2 weeks from the night Dorothy passed. We were good support for each other and the memorial was good closure for us all. It allowed us the opportunity to hear stories about Dorothy we hadn’t heard and reconnect with family we hadn’t seen in a long while. Dorothy would’ve liked that.
It was hard to get any work done during this time though; the back and forth between home and my father-in-law’s place beginning to take its toll. I wasn’t feeling like myself and wanted to get back to some semblance of “normal.” I was looking forward to returning home the Sunday after the memorial to tie up loose ends and maybe get my car washed. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done that. Dwight and I also needed some serious down time and we didn’t have much time as he was leaving Monday morning for a 3 day camping trip.
After seeing Dwight off to his trip, I set to work and got a lot done Monday. My web guy and I were wrapping up the final touches on my website and my CD was on its way from the disc manufacturer. Tuesday it was 4 in the morning and I was wide awake. After spending an hour unsuccessfully trying to get myself back to sleep (and stop thinking!), I decided as long as I was awake I might as well be productive. I was working at a swift clip in front of my computer when at 6:00am my cell phone rings. I pick up the phone to see my 80 year old father-in-law Sarkis’ picture on my caller id. With the events of the past few weeks, my heart is in my throat as to what I’m going to hear when I answer the phone. He says he’s fine, but that his toilet overflowed and flooded his entire apartment. He’s been up since two in the morning cleaning up the mess and trying to get things up off the floor so that they are not soaked and ruined. The maintenance crew in his apartment building was there with a sump pump sucking up the excess water.
*SIGH*
I told him not to worry I would be there within a half hour and DO NOT call Dwight who was 10 hours away, didn't need the stress and could do nothing about it from where he was anyway. After hanging up with him, I threw on my tennis shoes and turned off my computer. I was grabbing my bag and going out the door when Sarkis called me back to tell me not to worry about relaying the story to Dwight because he called and left him a message explaining what happened, so now I don't have to do it. Okay dad, I’ll be there shortly.
I arrived to Sarkis by 6:30am. The carpet was wet throughout the apartment; he picked up what he could from the floor, but could only do so much. I set to work tossing what the water had ruined into trash bags and moving furniture out of the apartment and into the main hallway. Disposable gloves were used in this process; we're talking about toilet water after all. Ick. I got things as together as much as I could, putting the dining room chairs atop the dining room table, moving other wood furniture into the building’s main hallway, clearing floor space for the carpet shampooers that would be coming later.
I was sure he'd gotten his dad's message by then and was probably standing outside his tent cursing the heavens. I sent Dwight a text telling him not to panic, I was there cleaning and the carpet would be shampooed by the afternoon. He texted me back relieved and thankful.
We spent about 4 or 5 hours cleaning up and clearing space for the cleaners and were weary and hungry. Sarkis insisted on treating me to breakfast, which was fine with me. I was ravenous. As we ate, we talked about Dorothy and where the two of them used to sit when they would visit the restaurant and what they liked to eat; they were “breakfast people.” Upon leaving the restaurant, Sarkis also insisted on getting my car washed. Well… alright. Between the events of the day and getting the album ready and preparing to leave town in a few days myself, I wasn’t sure when or where in life I would ever get my car washed.
Besides, the car wash behind the restaurant gives a discount with your restaurant receipt. Sarkis and I love a good deal. And it was a drive thru carwash. I hadn’t been inside one of those since I was a little kid! I was actually looking forward to it. Is it sad that this was fun for me? I set my car into neutral and the giant mops and suds took over my car; shaking and vibrating and swooshing around me. Sarkis preferred to wait outside. Inside the drive thru I decided it hadn’t been such a bad day; it was till pretty early and I could still get a lot more done.