Where’s the Door?
My Dad had a bad habit of always finding little jobs to keep him busy. One of those little jobs was a penchant for moving the front door to several different locations over the years.
A few weeks before Christmas 1969, he decided that he wanted the door moved so he could have a place to put up the Christmas tree where it would be in the front window. The door was to the left of the window and the tree would get knocked over every time the door was opened.
The door had only been in this particular spot for less than a year. When Dad moved it in the spring he neglected to take in the repercussions in the winter. Another reason that it was not in a great spot was the fact that it opened right into the front room and Mom hated having to clean the floor every five minutes.
At the front of the house had first been a porch where the original door was, then turned into a bedroom but after Sandy had been married, Dad turned it back into a front porch and the old door frame was on the south wall underneath the wallboard ….don’t bother trying to figure it out…we never could either!!
Anyway…he knew under the wallboard was the original opening for the door so he opened it up and built a new frame, then took the front door and moved it back and put the screen door on. Now it was time to seal up the gaping hole in the front room. That took very little time…a few studs, some insulation and then drywall and the hole was sealed. He puttied it that night and the next night he painted it inside and put the cedar boards on the outside wall.
Dad loved doing these little jobs but sometimes he neglected to inform people of changes that might affect them….this was one of those times.
Two days before Christmas I took the Greyhound home from SFU. It was a late bus and I had told Dad not to pick me up as the roads were bad and we didn’t know how long or late we would be. We finally arrived home about 2 am and a friend gave me a lift home. I dragged my suitcase and my big box of presents up onto the step. It was a pitch dark night so I took out my keys and kind of felt around for where the doorknob used to be. This was strange! I couldn’t find the doorknob and upon feeling around some more I couldn’t find the door! Keep in mind that I have night blindness and could not see well and couldn’t see the door to the right of me.
WELL, I thought…geez if you didn’t want me to come home, ya coulda just told me! I walked around the back of the house hoping someone forgot to lock the door but no such luck.
I went to Norma’s bedroom window and pounded on it but she slept like the dead and never heard me. Mom and Dad’s bedroom window was about 8 feet off the ground and in the dark I couldn’t find the ladder. By now I was quite pissed off and went back to the front of the house.
I decided to feel around and finally after about 20 minutes I found where he moved the door. Wonderful! I slipped the key in the lock and turned it…well crap…he put a new lock on the damn door!
By now I was cold, frustrated and pretty pissed off. I started banging on the door and slamming down the stupid little door knocker until finally Mom heard the noise and came running! When she opened the door she was laughing because I looked slightly worse for wear but she grabbed me and hugged me and together we brought my suitcase and box of presents into the house.
I went in and jumped on Dad which woke him up and gave him a blast for not telling me he moved the door! Dad kind of laughed and hugged me and decided he was hungry. Mom had quickly made sandwiches and had a pot of coffee made. I soon warmed up and before long we were laughing about it.
I wanted them to not tell Sandy but Dad thought better of it as they had a two month old baby and he didn’t want Frank to be upset!
The next day Dad put Christmas lights all around the moved door with a sign on the wall where the door used to be advising friends of the move. He phoned Sandy and Frank and told them and then he went down town and bought new keys for all of us.
As usual…never a dull moment in the Shaw householdl!! Good thing I was not drunk…I probably would have been found frozen to death leaning against the non existent door!! LOL