Apr

13

Tuesday night was interesting in the Brooks household. It rained in St. Louis, a long, hard relentless rain. Since the bad ice storm this winter, my flat Mansard roof has developed several leaks. Needless to say, the roof was leaking last night.

As I drove home from my office, I knew I was going be greeted with buckets on the floor. That was only the tip of the iceberg.

I pulled into yard and drove around to the garage under the house and noticed it was flooded. My sewer was backed up. Not just a little backed up, oh no. It was so backed up that we couldn't even flush our toilets.

So I called Rescue Rooter and arranged for them to come out. They couldn't arrive until 8:30 am. Not good. As I hung up the phone with them I heard some major drips start in the kitchen. Kitchen? The kitchen doesn't leak. Wrong! It was pouring into the room. Something wasn't right.

So I went upstairs and opened the door that leads out onto the first roof over the kitchen. There was easily four inches of water sitting on that roof, so much so it was overflowing through the door. Time to act quickly.

So I pulled my shoes and socks off, pulled my pants off and proceeded out onto the roof (yes, in my undies. But don't worry; we're somewhat isolated and it was nearly 2 am). I stepped barefoot into four inches of freezing water. Did I mention that it was 45 degrees outside, it was pouring rain, and the wind was blowing hard?

The first things I noticed were my toes. They instantly froze. Consider your toes for a moment. How often do you really think about them? If you're a guy, probably only when they're hurt. Mine hurt.

I am a creature of comfort and I was decidedly not comfortable. As my toes numbed to the point where I couldn't feel them I noticed I didn't have a ball cap on. Those of you with hair probably take for granted the insulating capability of hair. It was then and there that I was struck with the cold hard reality of my baldness. The wind was freezing my ears, water was running down my face and neck, and rain was crashing onto my unprotected scalp. I was not the least bit comfortable.

It was then and there that a smile crept across my face and I realized how blessed my life was!

Here I am on the roof of the house that I told everyone that I was going to buy when I was 10 years old. I now own that house. I was flooded with memories of my father and how hard he worked and how he did a lot of uncomfortable things in his life to make sure we had what we needed. I remember my dad telling me that sometimes "you just gotta do daddy things." As I stood on that roof in the pouring rain and freezing water I knew then and there, that I was doing "daddy things." I was doing what it took to protect my house so my family could be safe and have shelter.

As I cleaned out the drain, my hands were getting cold (the water on that roof was real cold). But as I dug my hands into the muck filling the drain and felt the pain of the cold, my mind interpreted that pain as success. Success because I was doing what I needed to do. I was doing daddy things.

I then climbed up to the highest roof on the house (I have 3 roofs) and unclogged those drains. As I climbed the ladder, I actually couldn't feel anything but a bit of pressure on my feet and my toes were completely numb. It didn't matter. I climbed that ladder, unclogged the drains and waited while the water drained off, as I had to keep unclogging it. I did this on two drains on that roof.

I then looked over the side of the roof to see the second roof over the master bedroom/sunroom. It was flooded too. I opted to go back down the ladder (by this time I could hardly feel my feet at all). Back into the house I went and then I climbed out the window in David's room. I repeated the process of cleaning two drains on this roof and waiting while the water drained out as they needed to be unclogged several more times.

Finally, the roofs were drained and I was able to go inside.

I felt great. I felt like I had accomplished something. I felt like I had lived up to the standards my dad had set. Sure, there are a lot guys in this world who would think nothing of this, but I'm not one of them. As a rule, I avoid any kind of physical labor unless absolutely necessary. But tonight was my night. I felt victorious. I know that may sound corny to many of you, but I was sure feeling good!

I firmly believe that a positive attitude is a the cornerstone of success. It is the impetus for everything good that will happen to you! As I walked into my bedroom, my wife awoke, looked at me and said, "What have you been doing?"

I told her. I told her the whole story of my victory. She looked at me, rolled her eyes and said, "Oh please. I've been on that roof in a blowing rain storm, in mid November while I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, with a 2 year-old and a 4 year-old standing at the door crying their eyes out bawling for me to come back in screaming 'I'm scared mommy, come back in' while standing in freezing water, climbing up and down ladders and unclogging drains, wearing nothing but my pajamas."

So much for my victory! But I'm still a blessed man! (By the way, the next morning, my wife did give me a kiss with a wicked smile and tell me that I'm a manly man!)


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