Holding The Family Ladder - Together

On a recent weekend - it rained a lot. I mean like buckets, and buckets, and buckets of big, ugly, smelly, snarling cats and dogs.

At the height of the downpour - I noticed upon driving into my garage, that the gutter above was clogged; the water was trapped, and the gutter was about to break away from the house (which made me think, that maybe there actually was a big, ugly, smelly, snarling cat and dog sitting in my gutter).

Needless to say - it wasn't good; I needed to take action. So I grabbed my ladder, propped it up against the house in the drenching rain, and started to climb - only to chicken out half way up as the rain pelted, the wind howled, and I was rocked by the scary memory of once falling off a ladder, two story's high, and breaking several ribs. Ouch!

More truth be told, the fact that I wasn't able to climb the ladder by myself, really bothered me. Not only did it bother me that I didn't have the courage to step up, and fix this dire problem - but it also bothered me in my manhood/fatherhood/husbandhood as my family looked on, and I felt selfishly inadequate. "Man-up, you fool!" I said to myself, only to hear myself reply, "But what if you fall, land on the driveway, and break your neck. Smarten-up, you fool!"

And then - it happened. My wife called for the kids, and they all came out into the rain to hold the ladder for me, thereby giving me the courage, confidence and motivation to climb the ladder .... pull out the dastardly tennis balls that were clogging the drains (it wasn't cats or dogs after all; go figure) ... and fix the gutter before it came crashing down.

When I got off the ladder, we rejoiced! We danced, and laughed, and shouted with joy. It was awesome. Although cold and wet, we all felt great. (Albeit the neighbors probably thought we were off our rocker; but that's okay, it's good to be goofy.)

The family did it!

Together, as a family, we got the job done.

As a family, together.

And while I believe it's my job, as a husband and father, to hold the literal and/or metaphorical ladder of life for my wife and kids (it's an ego/ DNA thing) - sometimes, I need them to hold it for me. And for that - I thank them, appreciate them, and love them.

Holding The Family Ladder Together is Good.