Third anniversary

I can look back over my life and pull out a handful of events that have profoundly, permanently affected me:

• Some events in my childhood including this one
• Getting married at 19
• Getting pregnant six months later
• Starting college at 29
• Getting divorced at 35
• My first date with Kent

Some of those changes were good, and some were less positive.

Today’s the third anniversary of the water main break, and that event belongs on the list above.

I know now in a way I didn’t before that really bad things can happen to very ordinary people. You just never know when your home might burn down or a tornado or hurricane or tsunami might hit or a river might flood. Those events are pretty random and capricious and all you can do is manage once it happens.

I also know in a real, not theoretical, way that what I've got with Kent is rock solid. The water main break was just one in a string of awful things that happened to us in 2009. We never once turned on each other and I’m confident we can handle pretty much anything (although I would greatly prefer we would never need to demonstrate that again).

I’m still incredibly gun shy about homes that may experience flooding of any kind. That extended to me insisting we pick a top floor apartment so that the only water risk we face is from the roof, not from anyone’s pipes. As we've been house-hunting, the first thing I check is the basement. If there’s a whiff of water damage, I’m done with that house.

Unexpected water noises still get me jumpy. Wally, and to a lesser extent Eddie, are still pretty nervous in general, far more nervous that before. I still have the cat carriers nearby should we need to get out of here in a hurry.

Have you had life-altering experiences, either good or bad? What were they?

I've written about the first and second anniversaries too.