Today’s secret is heart-warming, in the spirit of our recent festivities.
This holiday, in not-so-coqueta fashion, our house started to smell a bit funky. A rotten egg smell permeated through the halls. My grandmother, Mamina, was the first to notice the odor in her bedroom. My mother, of course, accused her of farting, yet the smell persisted and spread past Mamina’s room to my sister’s.
Soon enough, the plumber was called, with fears of a faulty septic tank and a New Year’s party just two days away.
Our plumber, Mike, arrived. He had been our plumber for over 20 years. He was a humorous fellow who would always tell my mother about little pranks he would play on his clients’ husbands, like saying, “I’m here in the shower with your wife.” As you can imagine, it was a real hoot with the husbands.
Anyway, just like our family, he had many loyal clients. One of them was a very rich elderly couple. We will call them the Johannesbergs. Whenever he was called in to perform his plumbing duties, he would point out and compliment their beautiful baby grand piano. He was an avid admirer and player of pianos.
Time passed, and Mike continued as the family’s loyal plumber for years to come. One day, Mike heard that the couple had passed away and that Sotheby’s was going to auction off their valuables. Unexpectedly, Mike received a letter in the mail from the Johannesbergs’ lawyer. The letter stated that Mike had been left the baby grand piano and one hundred thousand dollars.
In disbelief, Mike confirmed the letter was true and was able to pay off the rest of his house. He told us this story in a casual manner as he unclogged our sink.
Besitos A