Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Code Blue

It was a midsummer Saturday some years ago when Aaron, who was still in high school, decided to paint his room. At the time, his room was a closed in garage with a door at each end. One of the doors led directly outside while the other led into the utility room. It was a long, narrow room with a wood burning fireplace against one wall that made it difficult to be of much use for anything.

Aaron and De'on went to Walmart and got the paint which had to be mixed. Tarhill blue, not in high demand. They also got four gallons of primer since the walls had paneling on them.

That evening, Aaron began painting. I got him started with the primer. The time passed. Aaron grew weary and figured on getting a fresh start the next morning.

Sunday morning, De'on and I were getting ready for church. Aaron was up and painting. Final instructions were given. Finish with the primer before any painting begins.

Upon returning from church we found Aaron, along with several friends whose help he'd enlisted, crashed out and snoozing away on the bed in the middle of the four walls that had not been primed, the blue paint was half gone with only two of the four walls partially painted. Blue paint was everywhere: floor, ceiling, dog, etc.

I hollered, "Aaron, what in the ****?" They had decided to use a little power painter instead of the rollers and brushes. A blue haze was in the air. No wonder everyone was tired, they had inhaled too many paint fumes.

I took over the painting and finished priming the walls. There wasn't enough blue paint left to complete the walls. I drew a line about two feet from the ceiling and painted it blue up to the line and the rest I painted white. I also had to paint the ceiling, not part of the original project. All in all, once we got past the color, it didn't look half bad.

The blue walls are long gone as well as the doors on each end. The room is now a den with textured sheetrock walls and ceiling. A few spatters of blue remain on the wood fireplace and sometimes takes us back to that day.

Semper Fi, Aaron.

4 comments:

De'on Miller said...

Another nightmare that causes one to smile years later :)

Steve Ramos said...

This story is a reminder to always step back and realize that every second of our lives is important. God grants us each minute, and we must never take them for granted. What seemed to be a frustrating disaster is now a treasured memory. You're awesome, Greg. Aaron was lucky to have you in his life.

De'on Miller said...

They had their moments, but yes, they had a good relationship. Aaron respected Greg for being so good to me and working on one of the 4 or 5 vehicles Aaron went through!

Greg has been a blessing to all of us!

Steve Ramos said...

And if you don't believe that Greg walks on water, just ask Jerry!