Repairman

Do you ever think back to when you and your spouse were first dating?  Or maybe when you first became a parent?  And do you ever laugh at your own stupidity?  Or ask yourself, "How in the world did we ever make it?"

We often laugh about the time Brad changed the windshield wipers on my car.  We had not been dating long, and I suppose he wanted to help me out in the "manly" car repair stuff, so he took me to Wal-Mart and bought the windshield wipers.  Sitting in the parking lot of the Starkville Wal-Mart he began putting them on.  He worked, and worked, and worked some more, but those stubborn wiper blades just would not cooperate.  (This was also one of the first times I witnessed my future husband's frustration level reached.  I remember sitting in the car wishing he would just give up, hoping no one was watching this, and praying a drought would come to our area.  He finally got them on but everytime I used them, the right blade would slide out slowly.  In order for me not to totally lose the blade, I would have to stop and push the blade back in in the rain.  Yes, we laugh about that now! 

Oh my, how far he has come!  In the past few years, my hubby has progressed from changing tires to his latest venture, changing his starter.  He and his father fixed the brakes on his truck, and he recently changed the alternator on my car.  (Albeit, I do have a belt that squeaks rather loudly now and again since he changed it but I have no doubt he'll get around to fixing that too one day). 

What about his frustration level?  Wellll, that still gets reached but I have to admit not as quickly.  I have noticed a pattern though.  He works and works, reaches a point where he feels he has totally messed up the entire workings under the hood and will have to roll the vehicle into the Reservoir, comes inside, sleeps on it, wakes up the next morning with the revelation of what was done wrong, and has it fixed in about an hour.  That is the pattern I have noticed. 

This week he changed the starter in his truck.  It wasn't pleasant, and at times I wanted to call a tow truck and let the professionals handle it, but in the end he figured it all out and now his truck is cranking quickly and easily. 

I wish I could say tinkering under the hood is his "hobby," but it would be an untruth.  The truth is he has learned from necessity.  Financial necessity. 

Whatever the reason for doing it, I'm proud of him. 

Yes, he's come a long way since those first set of windshield wipers!