My name is Robert Varisco and I live in Massachusetts. I am married to Natasha who is sister to Andrea, Andy's wife. That makes Andy my brother-in-law.
About six years ago Natasha and I bought an old New England house needing lots of work. A year into this project, we asked Andy if he would fly out to help me with a couple of projects. Andy re-worked his schedule, flew out, worked on each project in record time, and refused to accept any compensation. Totally Andy. Talented AND giving. Enough to make you sick in a good way.
Anyway, one of the projects was to completely rehab and remodel the master bathroom. New everything...electricity, walls, tub, toilet, window, sink...all of it.
During the course of this nightmare (a nightmare that Andy did not even blink at...he walked in, saw the state of things, and said: let's get to work), we had to put in new drywall. I had begun this part before Andy arrived, hanging the drywall on the flat part of the ceiling and also on the slanted part of the ceiling. I taped the seam where these drywall pieces came together and spread mud over the tape...then sanded it. I was confident that at least this part would not need work.
When Andy took over the project, he completed all the taping and mudding of the other seams on all the other drywall. I remember standing there with him and him looking up at the seam that I worked earlier in the project and saying, I'll just leave your seam alone there, ok? He was smiling that Andy smile, a joke that only he knew but that I would be clued in on later. I said, sure, no sweat.
The project was finished, Andy put the final coat of paint on and then flew home...3000 miles back to California.
Laying in the tub a day later, I stared up at the ceiling. Every seam in the bathroom was dead straight, bullet straight, perfect. Except, of course, the seam that I had completed. That seam was a winding path, a weaving drunk driver on an otherwise perfectly straight road.
I remembered Andy's smile and what he said: I'll just leave your seam alone there, ok? HE KNEW I WOULD BE LAYING IN THAT TUB IN A MATTER OF HOURS ADMIRING THE WHOLE JOB AND THEN HAVE MY EYES COME TO REST ON THE DAMNED SQUIGGLY SEAM RIGHT ABOVE MY HEAD.
Folks, when I tell you I laughed out loud at that sucker and his ornery smile, I laughed OUT LOUD!
Just two nights ago I lay in the tub staring up again, looking at that seam, and laughing again.
I miss that ornery smile.
No comments:
Post a Comment