” The Garage “
I’m not sure how it happened but somewhere during our marriage (and it’s been a long time) , the garage became his garage. Why would a man just think that a garage is not part of the sharing of a relationship. Oh sure, he gave me a couple of hooks to hang my tennis and pickleball bags on and let me put the ping pong table out there, (NOTE: he won’t play with me) and he offered me the top of the garage refrigerator for my extra golf balls …Meanwhile the majority of this 3-car garage is taken over by his “stuff” , including 4 pair of waders (really?), lawn mower’s, tool benches, every kind of motor oil and lubricant known to man, along with every type of tool, 24 hunting jackets (and pants) of different colors and camouflage for the season, boots for every season hats beyond counting, boat oars, scaffolding, plus, every gadget you can imagine, different sizes of ladders, fishing poles, ice augers, spears, chainsaws, freezers for all the dead things he brings home from hunting and fishing (truly a Yooper and U.P. Guy) ……and finally, a truck that that he has to carefully maneuver through as to not knock off the side mirrors and take out the drywall through to the kitchen…it’s BIG!
So he leaves for his annual week-long fishing trip to the Dog Lake area of Canada 5 hours north of St. Ignace), with the guys, (that’s what retired people do) …and I’m just trying to find some glue on the work bench but I can’t….and I’m instantly overwhelmed by all the crap on it, (oh, sorry, I mean items of importance) …For a man who has a truck that you could have a dinner party in, that certainly didn’t carry over to the general garage cleanliness…..I start looking around and realize this garage is really a semi-organized mess. It’s surface neath but beneath, there are tons of things out of place and on the floor. They have to come up, dust and hidden spiderwebs and birthing grounds behind much of it……A fish mount with a mammoth perch that is loose and needs to go to the taxidermist but it’s been on the “bench” for 10 years. That’s it .I’m going to clean and organize this garage, surprise him, maybe early Father’s Day gift, he’ll be thrilled.
I have a business and am busy so I take this on early in the morning as I’m up at 5am….I get the hot coffee, an audio book on the speakers, birds are singing as springs pops outside. I pull down the cool screen door that makes the garage like a screen house, while listening to the newly hatched batch of midges that sound like an airport runway, pull up a chair and plot my strategy…..this is going to be fun…heave hoe, clean, dust, organize, vacuum….It was great…. and when done, I stood back and thought, what man wouldn’t think I was indispensable? He’s had me for a long time but he could never give someone like me up, could he?
I pulled in the driveway Saturday, he had just gotten home with a load of fish and was already on the lawn mower making clean turns…..but stopped to give a quick kiss and tell me he missed me…not a word about the garage…HOW CAN THAT BE! clearly it was an amazing clean. When I asked if he noticed anything different, he quickly responded, Oh Yea! where’s my saw blade, and he continued with several questions about possible missing items? still no mention of him being pleased? I couldn’t believe it …clearly he is irritated..WTH! I was hurt for a minute, then I was ticked for lack of manners, hell, he could have just lied to me, just make me feel like he appreciated the effort.
I needed some indication of gratitude. Hell, if he cleans the house when I’m gone, I celebrate for weeks,. if something is misplaced, I’ll find it sooner or later, I’m TRULY grateful!
So after some reassurance that I threw nothing away that he couldn’t live without , and a little justification , he agreed it looked better , but made a point to let me know that it wasn’t necessary. HA! RIGHT ! Later, he came in the house with a big smile on his face, THERE ! he said, BETTER! ….he moved a few things back so he could live with it and was back in his recliner before I could say “dinner served honey” .
So, I could have done a million other things with my time over the course of those early mornings and late evenings that week but chose to get this task done , one more thing off the list of to do’s. In the end, who was happy with the garage? I guess just me, but as he always reminds me when asked his opinion, “whatever makes you happy honey”….I am happy…. and isn’t that the most important reason of all, isn’t it.
Side note: Since I wrote this a few weeks ago, a little old lady broadsided his truck downtown, so currently, there’s a lot of space in the garage and I’m taking advantage of it:) poor guy, he’s really in a funk now!
