Always there for us

It was Saturday, December 21. We had a kitchen faucet that had a small leak under the sink. My plan was to repair it during the holiday break. But on inspection, the small leak had become ... not so small. So I went to our local home improvement store, fortunately there was a sale on faucets. Quick replacement, I told myself. No big deal.

My youngest son (now 18) agreed to assist, so we could get the job done and get back to our holiday preparations. The shutoff valve under the sink was old and didn’t work well. So I shut off the water at the main, and we went to work.

After some struggles removing the old faucet, we got the new one installed quickly. Now we just had to turn the water back on, test for leaks, and we would be good to go. Only one problem with that: the main water shutoff valve coming into the house was also very dated, and the valve snapped when I turned the water back on. We had no water pressure, anywhere in the house. And it was a weekend, four days before one of the biggest holidays of the year.

I tried to troubleshoot while my wife called around to see about getting an appointment with a plumber. We were lucky enough to find someone who could come out on Monday, without charging rush fees. So we had no water for the next two days. We made trips to the local grocery down the street to buy 5-gallon jugs of water for temporary use. It was an inconvenience and we had to put some of our holiday plans on hold.

The whole misadventure really made me think. Most of us have easy access to clean water. We never have to think about it, just open a valve and there it is. Like a lot of daily conveniences, we take it for granted. Even when there’s a problem, we can call a trained professional and it’s not on us to fix it ourselves. We rarely think about people around the globe for whom clean water is a daily, sometimes life-threatening problem.

I learned a lot of lessons that weekend. One was how expensive a main water replacement valve system can be. But there were other more important ones around counting our blessings. It was a great, and memorable, holiday with my family.

What else do we take for granted in our personal and professional lives? Do we value relationships and tell our colleagues, clients and team members how much we appreciate them? What about loved ones and friends? Do we complain about technology when it isn’t perfect, or do we feel blessed to live a life of convenience?

Every day is an opportunity to feel gratitude. Even for something as simple as a refreshing drink of water.