When Humanity Surprises You

We will close on our house tomorrow. We are $50K over budget, 1 month late, and completely emotionally and physically exhausted. Our builder has gone out of business, gone bankrupt, and skipped off to Arizona leaving us to finish the job by ourselves. After he left, unpaid invoices started arriving. Every sub or supplier we deal with is leery of us because we were connected with the guy who left owing them anywhere from $1K to $100K.

Friends started arriving also, staying until 2 & 3 AM to lay tile, help with plumping, install decks. Sometimes the most meaningful expressions were just hugs and reassurance.

Today is Sunday so we did not work on it. We sat on the floor in the living room and talked and laughed and started thinking about Christmas. Amidst the partially tiled floors, grout to be finished, plumbing leaks to repair, and trim still stacked in the garage instead of attached to the walls, it was snowing big fluffy feathery snow. It was like we were in a souvenir snow globe.

I thought about how many times I'd prayed for the builder since he disappeared. How every Sunday that we kept the Sabbath, even though deadlines were pending and bankers lirking, someone would show up the following day - can I paint? can I put your door knobs on? can I finish that handrail? can I cook you halibut fresh from Alaska while you work?

I thought about what it means to be part of a tribe and how my children as adults still huddle in blankets over heat vents to get really warm. I thought about friends that band together to make sure home happens for us.

We are warm, the snow is beautiful, and our table is long with plenty of room.