I know someone who probably is relieved that the holidays are over: my son-in-law, Jason. It's not for the reason you might think. We've all begun to notice that the house misbehaves when Jason visits.
During his first Christmas visit, a stream of water hit the library floor as melting snow found a path through the roof. Chaos ensued as the family scrambled upstairs to find and stanch the leak's source. To gain access to the window, my son used his old bed as a stool. It broke. Jason looked a little shell-shocked. We assured him nothing like this had ever happened before.
Tick tock. December again. One evening, Jason turned on a lamp and the light bulb exploded. Luckily, he wasn't hurt, but slivers of glass were still being found in the rug months later. Another first.
Tick tock. There they were again, optimistically wheeling their suitcases up the driveway. A new year … what could possibly go wrong?
On Christmas Eve morning, Jason was hit in the face by water from a loose shower head.
That evening, we were settled in the living room to watch the holiday movie. I lit a small candle. Sometime while Elf was trying to find his father, the wall of the candle collapsed and a stream of wax trickled silently across the coffee table, onto the floor - and over Jason's shoe.
Despite the ways our house has found to test Jason, he keeps coming back. A good sign, right?
I'm Deborah Booth and that's my perspective.
