StevenLaura

When It Rains, It Pours.
aka: When the pipe freezes, the ceiling falls in and your apartment is flooded.

So, we’ve been married 5 months Friday, and Steve has finished his first semester of graduate school. Both, people told us, would be difficult transitions. Life would be hard. This I knew, but I didn’t think it would be so unfortunate!

Now, don’t get me wrong, we’ve been very happy. But let’s recap the last 5 months, shall we? First, our apartment smelled of smoke. Then fleas. Then a broken dishwasher, a broken laundry machine, a dishwasher that spilled water into the wall and carpet, and carpenter ants. A couple of weeks ago, our drier broke. Then Steve got pneumonia just as finals hit. I have gotten both pinkeye and a weird-pseudo-heart-attack/panic attack thing in the previous two months, on top of the normal colds. Life proved to be an adventure indeed.

But that was all the adventure; we have enough stories to tell our children, right? Not quite. When Steve and I got back from seeing “A Series of Unfortunate Events” in the theater this afternoon, his sister Katie told us, “Someone from your apartment called. Your apartment was completely flooded, and your ceiling caved in.” I looked at the cell number and tried to place it, assuming it must be a friend’s practical joke. Steve called. It was not. They were in our apartment when we called taking pictures, and asked if there was anything special we’d like to get pictures of for the insurance company. Immediately I set them to saving my viola from the water damage.

This is a special time to remember what is most important in life. And today I remembered fully. The shock of loosing the hand-made furniture and my computer subsided quickly. Within the half hour, I was over it. I am dreading the return home and all the clean-up work I’ll have to do, but am over the loss of the material items. In the end, they don’t really matter. As corny as this sounds, life is good. Steve is with me. I have a loving family (including Steve’s family now!) surrounding me. I am happy. And as I walk into my apartment, I hope I will remember that the “things” never mattered. The love that built the furniture still lives, and as long as that remains, the items can crumble.

This has been our marriage thus far. A series of unfortunate events, or a few more steps forward in this journey called life. It is a blessing that all events have also come with undeniable unsurpassable joy. God is good.