The Window

The Window!!

How about a story today?

When the lady of the house (we’ll call her Anne) got home that afternoon, she saw that the window in the stairway to the second floor was cracked.  It was still intact, but there were cracked through the window. Anne noticed it and she would mention it to Joe when he got home from work. She busied herself with dinner preparations and soon Joe arrived.

Joe can in and saw the window.  After greeting his wife, Anne, he said “Hey did you notice that the hallway window is cracked?” 

Anne answered “Yes, I saw that when I got home from school today.  I think we’ll have to replace it”. Joe answered “Yes, it needs replacing.  Do you know how it happened?”

Anne replied “No, I noticed it the first step inside the door.  Maybe I should have looked for a rock or a baseball or something, but then I got busy and didn’t go and look.  Maybe you could look around”.

Joe went out and under the window looked around and couldn’t see any rocks or anything that might have cracked the window.  He thought, ‘well it could have been a bird flying into the window, or maybe a neighborhood boy throwing rocks, although I don’t see a rock”.

At bedtime as they walked up the stairs to their bedroom, they both saw the window and commented on it.  “At least it does have a hole to let the rain in”, Joe said.

The next day, Anne had to stay after school for a teacher’s meeting and Joe came home first.  He was tired - just a long day at the office. When Anne got home, they went out to eat at one of their favorite restaurants.  Joe went to bed first. He saw the window when he walked up the stairs and thought “We’ll have to do something about that.” 

Anne was also very tired as she climbed the stairs.  With the meeting, and other things she had to do as the principal, she didn’t even notice the window, and she was asleep in three minutes.

In the next few days, they both saw the window and made mental notes to get it fixed on the weekend.  But on Thursday, their son Steve called and asked if they watch the kids for the weekend. They said “yes” and Friday after school and work, they packed up a few things and went the twenty miles to be with Erin and Allison, their twin four-year-old granddaughters.  Anne and Joe had a great Saturday and Sunday with the girls, but as Steve and Cheryl came home, they were more than ready to give them back to their parents. Anne commented “I love being a grandparent, but it does wear you out.” And, the window didn’t get replaced or fixed that weekend.  

A month later, the window hadn’t been fixed but Anne and Joe didn’t even notice it anymore.  

The moral of the story is that things can get put on the back-burner and eventually fade away.  

So, maybe you (and I) have similar issues in our lives.  Maybe we stand before the bathroom mirror and say “Hmmm, I’m getting a little flabby, I need to do something about that.”  Or maybe “We should be putting away more for our retirement.” Or any of a multitude of things - that somehow slip to the backburner.  

Today, as I reflect on myself, I’m going to try to explore those things I have put on the backburner that need to be done, and get on it.  

How about you?

Today is the first day of February 2020.  Our first month of 2020 is over and past. Maybe you and I need to fix our broken window today!!!

Hugs!!!

Karen