Especially when they can fix things…
he really loves to fix things…
Both Dinah Shore and Eartha Kitt sang this song back in the day, but it sure says what I’m feeling this week. And no I don’t have a man living in my house. And I didn’t all the sudden find the man of my dreams(does one such man even exist) What I have found is something better… A good honest man who can fix things and doesn’t charge me an arm and a leg to do so.
I bought my little old 1890’s built house 9 years ago. It is a double house, not a duplex but a house that had another full house attached to the back of the parent house. I wanted a house where I could have my own place and my son and his family could have theirs. We decided to do this together and I would charge them less rent because my son would do all the work on the house and also take care of the yard work and snow removal. He took care of everything from electrical problems to plumbing and everything in between…and I mean everything. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix. It worked out great for us all. If I ever had a problem I told him and it was taken care of. And I was there to help out with the grandkids.
This situation worked great for all of us until my son’s death in July of last year. I was grieving the loss of my son but also I was constantly stressing and worrying about how I was going to take care of this big old house that always, always needed something fixed. As I have mentioned before, I have awesome friends and one of them gave me the name of a man she said was a wonderful handyman should I ever need one. So many things had been happening over the past few months that I put off calling him. I have had a few leaks in the ceiling and lately they had gotten to the point where I couldn’t ignore them anymore. So I finally picked up the phone and called him last week.
His name is Calvin. We talked for a bit and he mentioned my friend had told him about me and that I might be calling him. He told me he would stop by the next day to go over what I needed done. When he arrived he wasn’t what I had expected from our conversation but then no one ever is. I always have a picture in my mind of people and somehow they never turn out looking like what I expect them to look like. Back to Calvin. I showed him around the house and told him all the things I wanted done eventually but what I needed now and what was at the top of my list was the roof fixed and to stop the constant water coming in whenever it rained. He said no problem and would be back the next day to take care of it. Just like that.
Calvin worked 2 days fixing all the leaks and was up on the roof yesterday in gale force winds trying to get everything done so we wouldn’t have to worry about any more water coming in. He found so many spots that needed repair and places that I didn’t even know were leaking. I kept going out to see if he was ok and that he hadn’t blown off the roof. Seriously… I thought he might. When he finally finished up and had loaded up the ladders and his tools he came in to present me with his bill. I was a little concerned because he did buy quite a few supplies and also worked 2 long days. I almost fell over with relief when I looked down at the amount. I won’t go into details here but lets just say I was very very happy with Calvin.
When I told my friend I had called him and how happy I was to have him she said…”Everyone should have a Calvin.” And she is so right. All of this talk about how much I liked Calvin made me think of Brooke Shields and her Calvin Klein ads back in 1980…so to do a little play on her words…”nothing’s going to come between me and my Calvin.” My whole point is this…. we all need a Calvin. An honest man that fixes things that we can trust. Now, I can fix a broken toilet, put a new faucet on, etc, I have many times. I once lived with a man who couldn’t fix a single solitary thing… so I did. But this house is overwhelming and as I’ve said.. old. It needs a lot of fixin. I am not sure if I will continue to live here or not. There are a lot of happy memories here but then some not so good. But they say not to make a big decision until at least a year after the loved one passes so I am not rushing into anything. We will see how it goes..but in the meantime I have my Calvin.
Do you have a “Calvin” in your life? I hope so.
“Every job is good if you do your best and work hard. A man who works hard stinks only to the ones that have nothing to do but smell.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder I loved this….
Oh by the way, here is a picture of Calvin..
Calvin…LOL..just kiddin, it’s Brad in Thelma and Louise.