The Herald-Zeitung

On this very day just two weeks ago I had one of those small “life changing” moments. You know the kind that when something happens it not only changes your perspective on life, but challenges your personal priorities. I’ve had a couple of such events during the course of my years. One was when my young son almost died from acute dehydration caused by a severe bout of food poisoning. Another time was when I was in my mid-40’s and my mid-life crisis sports car hydroplaned on Interstate I-10 while traveling over 70 mph and I did a doe-se-doe with an 18 wheeler traveling equally as fast missing him by a couple of inches—or less.

Such a moment passed through my life again the Sunday before last when I awoke with an unknown bounty of energy and decided to exterminate a growing wasp colony nestled at the top of a dormer window above my porch. Taking the easy way out by grabbing my 10 foot folding ladder instead of the safer 20 foot extension ladder, I placed it directly under the roof line with my wife holding onto it. I climbed to the top with my can of wasp spray and eliminated the huddled creatures from their sanctuary.

Feeling like I’d just bagged a 10 point buck, I heedlessly backed down from the roof by placing both feet on the top rung of the ladder—you know the step that’s marked “DANGER—DO NOT SIT or STAND” while instructing Debbie to hold the ladder while I began my backward descent.

The next few milliseconds were pretty much of a blur. All I know is that I was descending at a rate faster than the speed of light and I had absolutely no control over what was happening to my body. Thud! That’s the sound a 270 pound man makes when he falls backwards from a standing position while standing 10 feet above the ground. And although invisible, gravity had challenged me. And gravity had won.

Laying flat on my back somewhere between the concrete sidewalk and my thirsty lantana I didn’t want to move because I wasn’t certain I could. My wife whom I had knocked over as the ladder buckled looked terrified. Moments passed. My neighbor, Paula yelled, “Is everything OK?” Finding the strength to slowly rise after I realized I could, I replied “It will be.”

And it will be. Although I’m scratched and bruised I know I’ll be all right because events like that help us to stop and take a look at our lives and determine what truly matters. It’s a chance to count our blessings and put any pettiness aside.

Sometimes things happen simply to remind us that although we do some stupid things, life has a way of giving us another chance—an opportunity to learn from the mistakes we make along the way.

In the meantime, does anyone want to buy a used ladder—slightly damaged?