Mrs. Pettersen, In the Elevator, With Guy Thornton

Like our old board game, Clue, this story has been stashed away for many years.  I've picked over the memory from time to time. Shared it with a few friends. But with Clarence's Brandon University reunion happening this weekend, I'm ready to take it out of the closet and hold it up to the light of day. Is it shameful? Not really. Foolish? Yep.

Please join me on my walk down memory lane. And I hope you learn from my mistakes. Like, always look before you leap into an elevator. Or at the very least, take heed of the Georgia Satellites song title, 'Keep your hands to yourself.' 

We got married in our last year of university. A few weeks after the wedding we left our tiny attic suite and drove over to McMaster Hall for a visit. I greeted my friends like I'd been gone for a year. Hours later I waved goodbye to everyone and followed my husband into the elevator. I felt bathed in the happiness of married life.  We'd be finished school in a few months, then apply for teaching jobs and spend the rest of our lives together in blissful harmony.

Since we were alone, I scooted backward, pressing myself against my sweet husband. Feeling a little playful, I reached behind me and engaged in...well. You know. But as I peeked upwards with a cheeky grin, my eyes met those of a complete stranger. It was not Clarence. It was a fellow by the name of Guy Thornton. Yes, that's his real name.  And though he lived in my residence, I had never met him before this intimate and mistaken occasion. In that moment I felt like the worst version of myself; the one who wiped out crowds of skiiers on the bunny slope. The one who went right instead of left and fell off the stage during a ballet recital. But those occasions were merely humiliating. This was embarrassment on a whole new level. As if embarrassment had decided to smoke crack and reinvent itself.

"Oh my God," I said, clasping my hands together like a Victorian maiden about to faint. "I thought you were my husband!" His reply may not have been exactly this, but the meaning was clear.

'Uh huh.'

"No, really. I thought you were Clarence. Why are you wearing the same pants and sweater?" I asked this in all sincerity. He ignored my sputtered words, continuing to smile down at me in a rather heartless manner.

"Sure," he said, mockingly drawing out the single syllable. Was he teasing? I had no idea, but he seemed to be hinting that I'd planned the whole thing. Which made me wonder if the problem was my reputation or his ego.

The elevator doors opened then, and I fled to the lobby area where I found Clarence waiting.

"Where were you?" He looked puzzled  and irritated. I remember that part very clearly.

"I.... I... I..." I decided to lie. Well, not really. "I got on the wrong elevator," I said. Part of me felt extremely embarrassed and remorseful. The other part, the one that insists on writing this blog, was having a good laugh at my own expense. I never told Clarence about what happened for a loooooong time.

"I invited him to our wedding!" he said in response to my belated tale, not appreciating the humour of the situation. As if the invitation made my behavior even sketchier. "How did you get on the wrong elevator?"

"I backed in and he was wearing the exact same pants and sweater as you. I don't think he believed me when I said it was an accident." Clarence didn't want to discuss it. So we put it behind us like it never happened. But it did, and I longed to restate my case in a calm and convincing manner.

I've had no opportunity to say this on national television. The breakfast shows where I've appeared on behalf of my babyTrekker carrier just weren't the right venue. So  let me state here and now, almost forty years after the fact, that I truly didn't know it was you, Guy Thornton. And that's the truth. I also need to thank you. Because you might have been heartless and disbelieving, but at least you weren't creepy. Happy reunion. Whew! I feel so much better.

Sweet, Savage Love

I was hanging upside down cleaning the bathtub when I happened to catch sight of my face. It was sagging the wrong way and looking very red. Think Arnold Schwartznegger in the end of days. Not the movie. His real end of days. Especially if he is constipated on the way out.

I was startled. My husband has never mentioned seeing me like this. Having had a relatively long married life, chances are he has. His ability to not notice these things is my new definition of sweet love. He is also oblivious to my back fat. I hadn't notice any either until I caught sight of it in a three way mirror. His assurance that I was just imagining things can be grouped in the same category. Sweet Love.

Savage love is another thing entirely. When I find yet another hidden item from Value Village, (a turquoise vase, honey!) and go into a rage filled rant, I can last for a good ten minutes. Afterward, my husband will exit whatever room he was in, give me a puzzled look and say, 'Were you talking to me?' That, on my part, is Savage Love. Still sweet on his side. However.

Let me throw away a moth eaten, stained pair of woolen winter pants and he will transform into a version of me. It is a monumental thing getting him to part with his clothes or any item in his 'collection.' Others are not oblivious to the situation.  "I can have a team here in an hour and clean all this shit up," promised a mutual friend of ours. "One hour. A whole team!" As she walked away, I felt vindicated. I was not the only one thinking our garage was overfull. On days when we leave the door open, people pull into the driveway thinking that we're having a yard sale.

My short temper and his latest turquoise vase collection have led to some humdinger arguments. The warmth in the room disappears while we sulk in our respective corners and contemplate divorce. A half hour later, we're snuggled in bed reading our books (because God forbid we don't read every single night!) while playing footsie. After a good night's sleep, sweet love reigns again.

There is an art to a lasting marriage. An ability to take the long view and not let a hissy fit, (mine) two speeding tickets in a row (his) and a disagreement over how to weed the garden, take away all the good stuff. Like the fact that he is the kindest person I know. That he is passionate about family and community and never tries to be anyone but himself. I know, because I've tried to make some changes and they haven't taken very well.

So, even when I'm building a full head of steam over his latest find, I appreciate very well what we've got. Between us we juggle this glass ball of delicately beautiful, sturdily complex love. We remember how we looked when we were young, and that's pretty much how we view each other. We know all of each other's stories. He excuses my bad mood and Arnold Schwartznegger, end of days, expression. I forgive his cupboard full of bargains. Because the truth about marriage is this. Forgiveness soothes the savage days of love, turning them sweet. The bad moments are lost in the colourful tapestry of our life together, becoming just another piece of the beautiful puzzle we call marriage. 

Cry Baby

Last week, very, very early, a fire alarm went off at our place in Winnipeg. Since we live on the 20th floor and Clarence had just had surgery, this was worrying.  What if it wasn't a drill? The elevators were locked so I started down the stairwell to check things out.

I had reached the 3rd floor when a voice came over the intercom. 'Please stay in your suite,' it said firmly.  'Remain in your suite until further notice.' Oh, the timing. My legs were shaking from leaping out of bed and rushing down 17 flights of stairs. My heart was tight from lack of exercise and panic. There could be a fire. And the 20th floor is unreachable by ladder.

I headed back up the stairs, holding onto the rail and feeling like a ninety year old. At the sixth floor it became apparent that a cooking fire had set off the alarm.  My sense of relief morphed into bitter self pity. Pulling myself upward, I cursed my ill luck with some colorful language and small bird like sounds of exhaustion.  Clarence was still awake when I stumbled into the bedroom.

He said,  'I told you not to go.' While technically true, this is exactly what a person who has taken one for the team does not want to hear. But the words, ' I told you so,' are an unavoidable part of most relationships. That does not mean I took them in the right spirit.

'But there was a fire,' I said. 'On a stove in an apartment on the sixth floor.' I was on the defensive, presenting my own version of, 'No, I told YOU so.' I went back to bed, feeling very hard done by. 

A few days later, one of my sisters had an accident, breaking her wrist and bruising herself badly. Later, when I was in the middle of retelling my story, "I can't believe I climbed ALL those stairs," it suddenly hit me. I'm a cry baby. There was my husband, the staples in his stomach catching on the fabric of his shirt. My sister, her small wrist wrapped in a cast, supporting herself with the help of a cane while gazing at me sympathetically.

'Fine,' I muttered to myself, feeling the weight of my own shame. It was time to re-embrace the gratitude mantra. After all, Clarence had had a successful surgery. My sister would get better. And I would take my physical fitness more seriously. Especially since, part of the time, we lived on the 20th floor.

This small life lesson is like a mirror. Instead of good intentions, it revealed me as a self indulgent mini martyr. And if I'm too thick minded to see the error of my ways, I suspect another lesson might come round again. It may not involve twenty flights of stairs, up and down. It may be something even more formidable. So I'm saying right here and now that I get it. There are a lot of people having a tough time. Most of them are stoic individuals silently bearing all that life throws at them, and still greeting the day with a smile.

They are my heroes. And I will run up and down many flights of stairs if I can help them in any way. I just might have to duct tape my mouth shut afterward.

Way Station

I went for a walk the other evening in our Osborne Village neighborhood, heading down Nassau and turning left at the corner of Wellington Crescent. There is a building right there that I have always admired. Impulsively I headed up the driveway, and wouldn't you know it, the door swung open like it was expecting me. The small foyer inside showed beautiful and wonderfully clean glass doors. Through the doors there were statues tastefully placed around the room. On my left was a man seated in a cubicle. He had one hand hovering over a phone, and seemed frozen by indecision.

"Is this an apartment building?" I asked excitedly.
"It's private,'' he said, like he was going to the bathroom and I was  being rude enough to watch. Which reminded me. I really had to go.
"Can I come in and look around? I've always wanted to see this place."
"You'll have to leave."
"May I use your bathroom?" In retrospect, I can't believe I asked this, except that my bladder was overtaking my brain.
"Absolutely not," he said, as if a simple no would lead to some persuasive arguing that would wear him down.

Continuing on my journey, I passed an Anglican church that rings actual bells on Sunday morning. They play 'Ode to Joy,' making me feel like I'm in the movie 'Sound of Music,' and have just gotten married in a beautiful cathedral. It inspires me to sing, 'How do you Solve a Problem Like Maria?' I can get away with that kind of thing in Winnipeg, because no one knows me and anyway, Clarence is impossible to embarrass. 

But back to my bladder. Since it's the size of a soy nut, I decided to stop at the Safeway across from our building. The small bathroom at the back is tucked between the egg fridge and the meat counter. A strong odor of cigar met my nose when I stepped inside. As I exited, a guy in an apron was standing there with a frown on his face.

'Someone's been smoking a cigar,' I tattled helpfully.
"It's not allowed," he said, glaring at me.
"I know. I'm just reporting it."
"Especially cigars. They stink up the whole place."
"I know. I..." He walked away, leaving me feeling as if I really had smoked a cigar in the bathroom. As if I'd just forgotten it. His certainty was very unsettling.

Feeling disoriented, I headed home. Why, I wondered, can't we have real way stations? Ones with helpful attendants, convenient bathrooms and guides willing to satisfy one's curiosity? Wouldn't life be wonderful if, every day, we were met with snacks, hot towels and comfy chairs wherever we went? I'd like that. For now, though, I'll settle for my friendly apartment building, where nobody knows my name, but where people will hold the elevator and even say hello. It's a start.

While You Were Sleeping

At four in the morning, there is not much to do around my place. Especially when the house is full of people, including a toddler who wakes at the slightest sound. Exhausted, bored, and fearing the appearance of a rambunctious one year old, I hid out in the bathroom.

After styling my hair in a variety of fashions I would never wear publicly, I decided to try on my youngest daughter's discarded make-up.  Sleepless night lesson number one:

 I can never use a black eyebrow pencil.

My eyebrows bec0me exaggerated question marks, as if pondering the fate of the world during a zombie apocalypse. I look like Joan Crawford, the later years. Much, much later.  Or someone creeping through a darkened hallway in a horror movie. Possibly a zombie movie.

Red lipstick is also a mistake. The bold color on pale, tired skin says crazed prostitute with a chainsaw behind her back.

There should be a hotline installed in bathrooms for people who can't sleep. It would connect us to others suffering the same problem. A therapist could be on hand to answer the questions one ponders in the darkness of the night. Overblown, fueled by sleeplessness, they weigh on you like an anchor from the Titanic.

It's not even the serious things that occupy my mind at three am. It's my deceased in-law's slide collection, at least thirty carousels worth, that sits in our back garage. Or the fact that I live in Manitoba and winter is coming.   And I don't know how to use our snow blower, and my husband spends part of his time in Winnipeg. And won't teach me because he thinks I'm going to cut off my foot. It's all completely ridiculous. But that's the working of an illogical, sleep deprived mind.   

Does a sense of aloneness creates a feeling of desperation? Or is it the fear of tiredness, that next-day-ache that settles into your bones? Whatever it is, while you were sleeping, I came to terms with a few things. Like, it is better to try on make-up in the middle of the night than lie there cursing the darkness. Or my messy garage. Or snow.

I hear the babbling of little voices. Time to creep back to bed.

The Invisible Woman

I hate being short. When my younger sister, Susan, shot past me in childhood, the unjustness of it hit hard. Now I've become invisible, and the self pity party is back in full swing.

It seems the automatic sensors on towel dispensers and toilets can't see me. I stand waiting, my wet hands raised in the air like a prepped surgeon. Nothing happens. I wave. Nothing. Tap it. Same lack of response.

Unlike the paper dispenser, the toilet needs to see that one has left the building. But flattening myself against the cubicle wall doesn't work. I don't want to leave without flushing. Doing a funny dance in front of the sensor doesn't work either. It gets complicated when the bathroom is busy and there is a line-up. 'I think that woman is tap dancing,' I heard a woman say during a recent visit to Calgary.

'I can't get the toilet to flush,' I replied defensively.

'Stand to one side,' she suggested. Like, duh, I didn't just try that. Sometimes I'll leave the stall and wait, one hand on the door so that no one goes in. I begin to feel like the grade ten version of myself. The one who was too short to make the volley ball team.

But it's not really about size. It's about being part of something. Being visible. I want the toilet to know that I'm done, like it does for other people. That I'm exiting the room. 'There you go!' I want the toilet to say. 'Good job!' Accompanied by a flushing sound.

My joyful response to the rare flushing toilet or automatic towel is usually a little over the top. 'It worked!' I'll say to the other bathroom occupants, expecting a high five or, at the very least, a congratulatory smile.

'Uh huh,' they'll reply. I forgive them, knowing that they occupy a different universe than me, perhaps breath a more rarified air They don't really understand the difficulties of trying to measure up. Of hoping to be tall enough, or good enough  to make 'Team Human.' When the toilet finally does notices me, it's like an invite to the club. 'Welcome,' it says, and the flushing away is like the secret handshake of acceptance.