Fallen Mirrors and Other Disruptions to Life

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.

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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.

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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!
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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!