My Grandpa left each of his grandchildren a generous inheritance upon his death. After much contemplation, we decided to use some of the money to purchase a new stove. My old stove was a giant piece of crap. I’ve never been so excited to see something leave my house. We bought a stove just before Thanksgiving and it quit working a couple of weeks ago. The touchpad to turn on the oven was defective. I didn’t want to exchange for the same model for fear it would happen again. Instead, I did what any rational person would do: I upgraded.
Our new stove is beautiful. Almost too beautiful to use. Unfortunately, it was a terrible ordeal getting it installed. Michael began the installation around 5:00 and I was already hungry and anxious for dinner. I told him he had 2 hours to finish. I had book club at 7:30 and I wanted to eat before I went. His 2 hours turned into 4 and the stove still wasn’t usable. Have you ever been around me when I’m hungry? Have you ever worked on a home-improvement project with me? I don’t tolerate either very well. In fact, it’s usually during these moments that Michael wonders why he married me. I’m admittedly unbearable.
First, the gas line had an elbow joint coming out of the floor and the new stove didn’t have clearance in the back to accommodate. Michael had to remove the elbow and make it a straight pipe. Of course, he couldn’t get the pipes loose with the tools he had. That ended up costing us $20 for a couple of pipe wrenches. Second, the hose kit to connect the range to the gas line didn’t have the correct size of adapter to attach it. I spent 30 minutes at the hardware store trying to find the right part. They didn’t have it because they recently had to destroy most of their plumbing inventory due to lead. I was able to get something that would work after looking at every stinking item on the plumbing aisle. (Later in the evening I found the correct part on the couch. It had been sitting there all along.) After about 3 hours, Michael finally had everything ready to go. Bear in mind that it was now after 8, we hadn’t had dinner yet, and I was missing book club. I was beginning to ramp up the grouchiness at a tremendous pace. We went to slide the range into the opening and…it wouldn’t fit. The dad gum range is supposed to be 30” but in actuality, it is 30 and 1/4”. We tried desperately for over an hour to make it work but alas, the stove wouldn’t budge. You can imagine my explosion. We had Taco Bell for dinner at 10:00.
Michael ended up having to grind down the edges of the countertops to make the range fit. This project covered the house in a layer of dust and required the purchase of more tools. I was leery the whole time, but it worked.
You’d never guess by looking at him but Michael is quite the handyman. I’ve been impressed numerous times at his skill and this time was no exception. (I was impressed after I was done yelling at him for taking so long, of course.) And here she is:
Isn’t she pretty? I will obsessively keep her clean for approximately one hour. Then I will be too tired to try any more.
We are also using some of the money to have cabinets installed in our dining room for extra storage. The cabinet shop should be coming to take measurements next week. I’m very excited about that.
Normally when someone gives me a gift, I like to send a thank-you card. However, I can’t send a card to my grandpa anymore and I feel strange about it. I can’t even call him up and tell him how much I appreciate his generosity and the wonderful things I was able to do with the money. I wish I could send him a picture of my beautiful new stove or my cabinets once they are finished. I hope he knows how grateful I am, not only for the money, but for the opportunity to love him.
My dad and his brothers are cleaning out Grandpa’s house this week; sorting through his memories and distributing his belongings. The finality of his life on earth makes me teary, but the knowledge that he lives on makes me smile. What a meaningful life he had.
Thank you, Grandpa.
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