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Loved at the Front Door

1/9/2017

It was more than love. It was a knowing: a deep caring. A feeling of pride was immediately perceived. Details, the details were subtle, yet many. I knew these things not by word, but by deed.

The porch was so clean I could have eaten off of it. Not a single leaf, piece of trash or grain of sand was present.

The welcome mat was as fresh as a sunny spring day. It wasn't faded, soiled or frayed, but perfectly pristine and ready, at any given moment to be welcoming.

The lantern style lighting was on and not a cobweb in sight.

The double doors were shining from their lacquered finish to the beveled glass. All was glistening and sparkling brightly.

The piece of resistance was the floral door piece. It was as if it had been placed on the door just for me. It was fresh, colorful, and oh so welcoming.

These observations were quick and powerful as I rang the bell. I knew, I just knew the homeowner was special. I knew they cared about me because they portrayed a sense of caring for their entry. I felt their welcoming and nurturing nature.

The energy on that porch was high and contagious. Without saying "welcome," they already had.

All these observations were not felt because it was a sunshine filled summer day. No, this was a day of cold and cloud filled skies. This was mid-January and the snow was falling softly. Yet, this home was ready for spring, ready for warmth... ready for me!

I knew that day, at that home, I was loved, appreciated, and wanted.
written by Benny

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Love is in the Air

1/9/2017

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January 9, 2017, the day was warm and sunny. And although winter had just taken over one end of the childhood playground equipment, it felt as though spring was on the high end of the see-saw.

Feeling inspired, Benny was compelled to create some wreaths for those people who had just removed their Christmas decor, and were needing something to replace it with.

Normally, he creates these items in our third car garage. He actually has a great little set up out there.

But today, the weather was determining where he wanted to be creative and the bright, sunny pool house with her nice, big windows and gentle breezes blowing through her open door, beckoned him to create a make-shift design studio within her walls.

I love his energy when he is creating something with his hands. He gets into a "zone". It is as if I am watching a professional football player as he runs into the end zone with the ball, or witnessing a skillful surgeon as he performs a life-saving operation. And though Benny doesn't make the salary of an athlete, and he doesn't save lives like a physician, what he performs when he is "co-creating and in-spirit" with the universe is a beautiful thing to behold.

What looks like a pile of random twigs, tulips, and glitter hearts begins to take shape as he carefully bends and shapes each stem.

He gently layers the different components of his creation until what was an ordinary flat base transforms into a fluid representation, in this case, of love.

He shares with me how this particular wreath, because it is a Valentine one, is going to have some flowing parts. He explains that the wind will catch the dangling hearts and the sun will reflect in the glittering picks in the same way that pure love does to our hearts.

"Love is fluid," he grins, "it moves, and breaths, contracts and expands."

It is as if he is hearing what the energy from this particular piece is exhaling into the room.

I take a deep breath.

I'm not sure how I got to be so lucky. I'm the one who gets to witness this creativity on a daily basis. I'm the one who gets to be the recipient of Benny's deep love for me. It's me who experiences the ebb and flow, the wind and sun of true love and who gets to reflect that back to him.

I smile and sigh.

He adds a bit of ribbon, ties in some hearts and embellishments, and holds up the finished product.

She is exquisite!

Some home will not only be the owner of a beautiful door or wall piece, but they will benefit from the love and energy that was put into its very creation.

Her twigs and branches hold secrets that she overheard as Benny and I spent time together on that bright, sunny day.

We reflected on the many Valentines Days we've spent together. We discussed how this particular piece is VERY different for him as he usually creates things that are more subtle. He's not so into the glitz and glam that this piece represents.

And yet...

the holiday that supposedly reflects one human's amazing ability to find that other soul to share life with seems to call for a little glitz and glamour.

And so...this piece was created.

And she awaits her new home...

written by Paula 1-13-2017

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Fallen Mirrors and Other Disruptions to Life

1/7/2017

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Getting a call after business hours that says a heavy mirror just fell in a client's home, was not on my radar for Friday evening.

Benny and I had spent two days painting and sprucing up a dining room for two very special clients and we were pooped. The shoes were off, the stretchy pants were on and the "over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder" was tossed in the corner of my closet. I mean, I can only speak for myself--I don't know what Benny did with his (wink wink).

For those two days, we had meticulously dotted every "i" and crossed every "t" in this home. From polishing her crystal and glass heirloom items before they were placed back in her china hutch, to squaring up the rug under her special formal dining table, we had covered all the bases for their newly uplifted dining space.

We re-hung their personal mirror back on the screws that had been nestled in their holes for many years, and, as mirrors are known to do, the light reflected in the space warmly, bringing about a sense of openness and reflection upon the newly updated space. The mirror was heavy, and it took Benny and I both to get it properly in place, and we all breathed a sigh of relief once she was resting over the buffet as she should.

We took great care in being extra gentle and cautious with their items, and we were so appreciative of their trusting us with their re-decorating needs.

The owners stood back and tried to take it all in. The room was truly transformed! Though we had only brought in a few new items, Benny had put their special belongings back in new places, grouping them in fresh ways, bringing a sense of balance to the space, and the room took on a whole new feeling.

The conversation turned personal as we learned about some of this family's heirloom furniture pieces and how they had acquired some of the crystal and glass pieces in their china hutch. They spoke with fond memories as the wife shared with us about her love of her sister, and she held up a little angel that was representative of the two of them.

When we left after the second day of being in their home, we had such a feeling of accomplishment and pride in our work, and we knew they were going to cherish their new dining room for years to come.

So when the man of the house sent us a text only a few hours later that the extremely heavy mirror we had just hung over their antique buffet had fallen off the wall, we were alarmed and shocked.

Making an appointment to go over early the next morning, we tried to get some sleep, but "life" had just happened, and it was hard to relax.

As can sometimes be the case, our minds began to wander, fearing the worst. We could imagine the corner of this 50lb mirror clanging down on buffet below, breaking the pearlized ginger jars that sat in front of the mirror and carving out a deep mar on the vintage surface of the buffet. Benny could imagine the newly painted wall being scraped by the mirror and even chunks of sheet rock torn out from the sheer weight of something like this falling.

And even though the text from the owner didn't mention anything being hurt in the accident, our minds played horrible tricks on us throughout the night.

Morning came, and we braved the newly iced streets to see the damages from the untimely marriage of mirror and wood.

What we found was a stripped hole in the wall where once a screw had been tightly wound into an anchor. The mirror was gently leaning against the wall in the entry and absolutely NOTHING was broken! It seems the homeowners had noticed that the mirror was sagging, and were able to remove it from the wall before it became a victim of gravity.

What a relief!

That mirror had hung perfectly fine for all these years, the screws and anchors had done their job until, during the previous two days, their world had been rocked by change. And that is when, I suppose, they decided to cause a little trouble.

Benny immediately took out his measuring tape and tools, carefully measuring a few inches above the previous holes. Making the decision to use even larger weight-bearing hardware, he created new pilot holes for the anchors and tightened the screws into place.

We began to discuss with the client about how this mirror is just like life. There are times when our anchor is ripped out of the wall unexpectedly.

We get laid off of work. Rip!
We receive a negative report at the doctor's office. Rip!
A spouse leaves us for someone younger. Rip!
A child makes poor or destructive choices. Rip!
We get rear-ended while out running errands. Rip!
We have a miscarriage of a much wanted and already loved baby. Rip!

We stay up late, thinking the worst. We imagine that our life is over, or at least life as we knew it. We can't imagine ever being able to move forward after such devastating hurdles. The loss of sleep causes things to magnify in our minds, and feeds a mental frenzy of chaos and worry.

We tend to forget that just as Corrie Tin Boon said, "Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength." Our fretting on Friday evening didn't cause what damage there might have been to reverse itself magically. Oh, it gave us something to do, but it didn't help our situation.

Van Wilder once said, "Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."

The beautiful ending to this story is this: even though the stripped screw coming disjointed was of no fault of ours, these clients could have easily called us, mad and cussing, making us feel awful for something out of our control. They could have demanded a discount or a refund or threatened us with ugly remarks. But instead, they chose the higher road. They greeted us warmly when we arrived. They were gracious and kind. They told us how, the evening before, they continually found themselves walking into this room and basking in her beauty.

Our encouragement to you today is simply this: when you have to re-anchor yourself, surround yourself with people who not only know how to use stronger hardware, but also people who will lift you up and get you through to the other side.
written by Paula

We are blessed to call these long-standing clients friends. Our lives are enriched because we know them. And we are thankful to be anchors in their lives as they are in ours.

I have included a before and after of the mirror wall in their dining room. What a difference a little paint and fluffing can make!

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Loved at the Front Door

Love is in the Air

Fallen Mirrors and Other Disruptions to Life

Benny and Paula

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﻿Loved at the Front Door

Love is in the Air

Fallen Mirrors and Other Disruptions to Life

Benny and Paula

Archives

Categories

Loved at the Front Door