mangrel10

we have a hole in the wall of our shower. a big damn hole where the tiles have fallen away and exposed the rotting drywall. whoever redid the bathroom last neglected to waterproof anything, so now the whole thing is crumbling away. we’ve duct taped and plastic covered for a few years now, thinking that we would renovate soon. but after one contractor bailed, we’ve worn holes in our shoes with dragging our feet. the bandaid approach does not work anymore, as evidenced by the buckets we had to distribute throughout the house to catch the rainwater. our roof is a sieve. if i can get the bathroom looking even a little better, i think that it will make us all feel better about living here. a couple of days ago we got rid of one of the pieces of furniture that l, my mother, gave us. there are only a few more physical remnants of our relationship to her. it will be good to get rid of the rest and excise the daily reminders of her and p compliments of the stuff that they’ve given us over the years. this last piece we gave to a friend, the others we put out on the street. my mother would be aghast that we could part with these heirloom quality treasures. but then again, anything she touched, anything she deigned to bestow upon us was in her mind an heirloom. by the time the thing was in the house, the story would have grown and changed, the value inflated until we could only disappoint by our reaction to her generosity. how could a human response live up to the response that she felt she deserved. not once or twice. but every time you saw her, talked to her you were required by law to offer up your deepest appreciation for the gift and for the opportunity to be allowed within the sanctum of her generosity. dig. this ain’t no lie. i’ll be glad to get the rest of the shit out of the house.