The One Where Our Garage Door Opener Bites The Dust

Our automatic garage door has broken. It was just a matter of time before this event occurred. And  now we're living in the dark ages of a life without electrical lift.

I honestly didn't realize how much I took that singular button for granted. When I wanted the door open, I just pushed a small button and up it went. Ta-da! Time to put it down again? No problem; with just a small jab of a finger, down it went again. Reassuring. Certain. Constant.

Except for now. Now, when one of the brackets is broken and no one carries the part. Now, when we have to order the part and wait. And wait. And wait. Now, that we've had to regress practically back to the stone ages and actually lift the door under our own steam.

It's true what they say, you know. You just don't know what ya got till it's gone. Turns out, this even applies to garage door openers.

I thought about it today as I ran out into the rain to close the garage door before I took the girls to school. And I thought about it some more when I ran out into the rain to open the door after I returned. Only now, sitting here quite soggy and sad, can I truly appreciate the joy that garage door openers brings to people like me. Spoiled people who don't particularly want to get wet entering or leaving the garage. People who prefer not to have to mentally chant "Bend At The Knees, Lift From The Legs" before heaving the giant thing up or down. People who, gosh darn it, just want their lives to be made more simple with a door that opens when you push a button. That's me. All of those things. Hi.

Thankfully the part will arrive sometime this week, and Dan will get it put back together. Then hopefully, (oh-so-hopefully), I'll be back to living life in all its button-pushing-electric-lifting splendor. And you know what? Every time I push that button and hear the "Smoke Monster-esque" sound the door makes as it lifts or drops under the power of the opener, I'll remember to be a little more grateful for it.

I will.

I promise.

I'll smile and say, "Thank you."
(Maybe not every time. But most of the time. Or at the very least, some of the time.)