Friendship

June 25, 2019

It’s payback time. Five years ago when we bought our present house, we stripped it to the bone, removing crumbling lath and plaster and old insulation before remodeling rooms and leveling floors. As long as everything was opened up, upgrading the wiring was a no-brainer, and fortunately, I have two good friends who are much more knowledgeable about such things than I. Harry and Ken pulled wires, attached outlets and switches, pulled more wires, and hooked it up to the panel box. Everything is up to code because of these two men who remained friends even after all I put them through.

Ken has been renovating a fixer-upper he bought awhile back. Last year, I helped with some of the demolition he needed, and helped pull the radiant floor heating lines last fall, but whenever I asked if there were work to be done, Ken would smile and say, “Not yet. I’ll call when I need you.” A couple weeks ago, he called and said, “I’m ready.” He knows I like tiling, so he was waiting till it was time. When renovating, everything has to be done in a certain order unless you want to do it twice. Tiling has finally worked its way to the top of the list, so today I drove down to his place ready to work. Turns out, it wasn’t quite time for the tiling, but there was a wall in the basement that needed to come down, and shelving that needed moving. Of course, the shelving was full, needing to be emptied before we could tear it down and reassemble it in the right location. 

Removing the drywall and moving the shelving doesn’t sound like a big job, but it took the entire day. It’s done, and Saturday I’ll finally get to do the prep work for the tiling. It’s dirty, messy work, but I’m looking forward to it. All I’ve got to do is convince these tired old bones to pony up and get going. I’m weary, but thankful tonight for such a good friend and for the opportunity to give back a portion of the blessing he bestowed on me those years ago. I pity those whose friendships are so shallow that there is no real give and take. Those who never get to serve or to be served are missing out on treasures money cannot buy.