The One with the Keys
"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future." ~George Bernard Shaw
I remember watching the tv show "One Day At a Time" that had the family who lived in an apartment complex with the service man named Snyder. Snyder was cool in the seventies; he had a mustache and wore a white t-shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve. The coolest thing about Snyder for me was the huge key chain that he had. As a child, that key chain meant he was important, that key chain meant that he was in control of everything, that key chain showed responsibility.
I wasn't given a key to the house until I was in 7th grade. It felt like my parents gave me the keys to a car the day they trusted me with a single house key. I wore it on my neck like a prized piece of jewelry.
Fast forward to the forty year old woman that I have become. That single key has become a myriad of keys, many that I have no idea where they belong to. I have key chains and lanyards, a box of keys a bag of keys and rings of keys. I have a bunch of keys that go to my mom's house, a bunch of keys that go to our townhouse and a bunch of keys that go to our new house. Just recently we contracted a POD so we could move things out for our renovation, so now I have two shiny new POD keys to lock things in. The love affair with keys is officially over.
Yesterday I gave the keys away. In an unprecedentedly crazy day we sold one house and rented one. At the first meeting I handed over all of the keys for my mom's house as well as two garage door openers. The load was lightened. In the evening we jettisoned the keys to the pool the mail box and the townhouse along with two more garage door openers. For the first time in months I came home with only two garage door openers (to our house) and a few empty key rings.
I can't help but imagine that Snyder hoped a day like this would come for him. The person holding the keys is always on call. The person holding the keys has to keep their mind about them. The person holding the keys is the go to for everyone else. The excitement of the responsibility slowly fades away to the exhaustion and realization that so many people depend on you. The high of feeling important becomes the stark reality that you are more important than you ever really wanted to be. The thought that you might be in control of everything becomes the honest reflection that as people we can control so very little.
Today, my key chain is lighter and my load is lighter too. In honor of Snyder, I'm rolling up my sleeves (minus the pack of cigarettes) and I'm putting up my feet. Somebody else is on call, I'm on break.
There is no wonder why the show was called "One Day at a Time".
I remember watching the tv show "One Day At a Time" that had the family who lived in an apartment complex with the service man named Snyder. Snyder was cool in the seventies; he had a mustache and wore a white t-shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve. The coolest thing about Snyder for me was the huge key chain that he had. As a child, that key chain meant he was important, that key chain meant that he was in control of everything, that key chain showed responsibility.
I wasn't given a key to the house until I was in 7th grade. It felt like my parents gave me the keys to a car the day they trusted me with a single house key. I wore it on my neck like a prized piece of jewelry.
Fast forward to the forty year old woman that I have become. That single key has become a myriad of keys, many that I have no idea where they belong to. I have key chains and lanyards, a box of keys a bag of keys and rings of keys. I have a bunch of keys that go to my mom's house, a bunch of keys that go to our townhouse and a bunch of keys that go to our new house. Just recently we contracted a POD so we could move things out for our renovation, so now I have two shiny new POD keys to lock things in. The love affair with keys is officially over.
Yesterday I gave the keys away. In an unprecedentedly crazy day we sold one house and rented one. At the first meeting I handed over all of the keys for my mom's house as well as two garage door openers. The load was lightened. In the evening we jettisoned the keys to the pool the mail box and the townhouse along with two more garage door openers. For the first time in months I came home with only two garage door openers (to our house) and a few empty key rings.
I can't help but imagine that Snyder hoped a day like this would come for him. The person holding the keys is always on call. The person holding the keys has to keep their mind about them. The person holding the keys is the go to for everyone else. The excitement of the responsibility slowly fades away to the exhaustion and realization that so many people depend on you. The high of feeling important becomes the stark reality that you are more important than you ever really wanted to be. The thought that you might be in control of everything becomes the honest reflection that as people we can control so very little.
Today, my key chain is lighter and my load is lighter too. In honor of Snyder, I'm rolling up my sleeves (minus the pack of cigarettes) and I'm putting up my feet. Somebody else is on call, I'm on break.
There is no wonder why the show was called "One Day at a Time".
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