Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Blessing #48 - Learning Something New about Shad


I've known Shad just a few months shy of a whole decade, and in that decade I have learned many things about him. He's not very good with directions on the road, but when he is on a boat he knows exactly how to get back. He looks through all the purses at Goodwill to see if they have any change in them. He loves jackets like women love shoes, and owns about 15 of them. Yes, I consider myself an expert in all things "Shad," but every so often I get to learn something new about my husband.

Sunday, after the Easter church service, we started to head home. Shad had Collin's stroller (I would explain why he had the stroller, but it's a long unnecessary story.) Since, we had so much stuff, I suggested that we take the elevator instead of using the stairs.

We loaded our family up into the small elevator that is mainly used for people that can't handle the stairs. This elevator is slightly different than a normal elevator. It has a folding door that you open, and then you push open a metal door.

When the elevator reached the bottom, Shad opened the folding door, and pushed on the metal door, but it didn't budge. He hit the button for our floor again, but the door still wouldn't budge. He asked me, "Stephanie, you rode this before. How do we get out of here?" Being the helpful wife I am, I replied, "I have no clue. I rode with a friend and she hit all the buttons."

I think it was at this moment that I noticed it, the nervousness in him. He then pulled back the other folding door on the other side of the elevator to reveal...a brick wall. I saw the nervousness grow into a mild panic. "I can't take being trapped," he said to me. This was the moment Brandon caught on to what was going on and said, "Are we trapped?" in a nervous voice.

Shad called someone, but who wants to answer their phone on Easter Sunday right after church? Did I mention we were one of the last people at the church. At this point Shad started to bang on the big metal door and yell, "Hey!!!" Brandon asked for the fifth time, "Are we trapped?"

Fortunately, Shad's friend, who at that moment became his all time best friend, heard Shad and came to check on us. Shad trying to seem calm said, "We are trapped." Shad's new best friend, completely unalarmed said, "Just close the folding door."

When Shad opened the folding door, he opened it too soon, and shut the elevator down. So Shad closed the folding door, and magically the elevator clicked and we opened both the folding door and the metal door with no trouble.

After our five minute ordeal, Shad emerged with a new lease on life. Shad kept saying over and over, "I don't like being trapped," and B kept saying over and over, "Mommy, were we trapped?"

Surprisingly, after a decade together, on Sunday, I learned that Shad does not like to feel trapped.

I also learned that it might be a good idea for me to start carrying large amounts of Benadryl with me, just in case I need to sedate Shad and Brandon.

***Note: In order to be fair, I have to quote Shad about the situation. "I did not panic. I saw a problem, and I became consumed with finding a solution."

Sure, Shad, sure.

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