And Rebuilding Takes Time

As Kody wrenched the stove out of the island, I snapped a photo and reminded myself, “Blessed are those who are flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape.”

My inner dialogue responded with a mind of its own, “At times we must dismantle to rebuild.”

I patted myself on the back for sounding philosophical while the conversation continued inside my head, “That sounds pretty good. I should quote myself.”

I chuckled aloud at my own inside jokes, wondering if other people’s brains entertain them like mine does, before my thoughts moved on and became more serious. I pondered life. The dismantling and the rebuilding.

I thought of my dismantled marriage and the divorce in 2008. I thought of the rebuilding of that same relationship when I remarried Kody on 11-11-11. I thought of the dismantling of life as I knew it, when we sold our Plano home last year. I thought of friendships made over the course of twenty-three years and the job I loved left behind. And then it hit me. Rebuilding takes time.

With some help from power tools, Kody wrestled out the island cabinets next, and together we discovered mold. Until that moment, we optimistically hoped to rescue and reuse the cabinets, the new Shakers installed six and a half months earlier. But, upon seeing the fuzzy white and green growth with my own eyes, I abruptly detached from those hopes and had no qualms with our parting. Besides, the marble-look, quartzite countertops came out unscathed, Phase One, the island dismantling. The cabinets and countertops around the perimeter of the kitchen would be removed in Phase Two, with paid help. Countertops are heavy. Ask Kody.

He interrupted my thoughts, “You know, if the other countertops don’t come out as well, we could go with a contrasting  countertop. What do you think about black? Even if these chip, we would probably have enough material left over to finish the bathrooms.”

“I like that idea,” I said, immediately visualizing the gray Shaker cabinets of the kitchen perimeter topped in black, juxtaposed with the black Shakers of the island topped in white.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I loved, LOVED the white marble look, but when choosing countertops, I noticed how different whites could be. If necessary, black would seem purposeful, like we had really planned the contrasting color choices vs. being robbed by a hurricane called Harvey. I envisioned our two new bathrooms as well, carrying the kitchen cabinet-style throughout the house along with the classic, white subway tile in the shower and bath, new fixtures and toilets, and floor tile to be determined. A year ago, we purchased this 1960’s, mid-century-modern fixer-upper. We dreamed of breathing new life into the space, living in it for a while, and making some money when we decided to sell. We modified the floor plan and opened the kitchen to the living and dining rooms. Bathrooms had remained on our to-do list, along with some outside improvements, like new siding and new gutters and a new patio to extend the living space into the backyard.

Now it’s time to finish what we’ve started.

At times we must dismantle to rebuild.

Soon,

after removing the rest of the cabinets and mold inspection passing,

WE REBUILD.

And rebuilding takes time.

Faith + Gratitude = Peace + Hope