27) The Basement Funeral

As if on cue, the weather swiftly took a turn from unseasonably warm to record cold stretches. If it had not been apparent when the lift was returned that there would be no more rentals until the spring, there was absolutely no questioning that anymore. Even if not officially yet, winter had made her presence known.

You were hopeful that the majority of the gutter leaks had been fixed or at least improved. You’d later learn that only three of the five were working as they should be, but that the north wall did in fact appear to be drying out. You’d snap a picture every few days and compare it to the first one you took several weeks ago, scanning every shadow for signs of moisture. You weren’t entirely sure, but you swore that you were definitely seeing signs of drying.

Before Jackie had left the two of you had finished up the last of the demo (at least for the forseeable future). Another mold discovery had led to more building material removal, the chiseling of plaster and the silver lining of a beautiful hidden brick arch where there had once been drab faux wood paneling. Now the only evidence of all those hours spent toiling in the basement were three large piles of rubble.

“I’m thinking about asking for help getting the rest of the shit out of the basement,” David said.

“Why’s that?”

“I want to get the ball rolling on getting the joists in and the floor finished and I can’t start jacking everything up until the floors are cleared… also at this point my back probably doesn’t have it left anymore for another two tons of dumpster filling.”

“You think we’re going to fill another dumpster?”

“I do,” David said, “So what do you think…? Are you open to asking for help?”

“Well we definitely need to get the last of this shit out of the basement and my arm is so fucked, I don’t know if I’m going to be all that useful… and with Jackie not here now… I’m not opposed.”

“I know that we’re trying to save money, but at this point, time is money too… and I think that if we can hire a couple extra hands that we can easily clear everything out in a day or two.”

“Ok,” you really didn’t need much convincing. You needed the basement liveable ASAP… you were very worried about how quickly it would become far too cold for the kids to continue sleeping in the sanctuary. They were fine now, but would they still be warm enough when it was 6 degrees out? “So what do you have in mind?”

“Mike next door said that he and his roommates could give us a hand on Monday.”

“Make it a date,” you responded, “let’s get this basement emptied.”

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A few days later Mike and his roommates showed up promptly at 11:00am after their early morning shift at work had ended. What you had assumed would take a full two days was quickly completed in two hours. The five of you shoveled the chunks of plaster and piles of dust into five gallon pails and the large wheelbarrow. Taking turns pushing the wheelbarrow and lugging the buckets all the way up the sloped hill to the gaping maw of the freshly delivered dumpster where you did your best to hoist the heavy buckets over your head. Your arm was absolutely throbbing, ‘this was your last big push’ you kept telling yourself… ‘hang in there,’ and by and large you did, keeping up with the four men. You couldn’t quite carry as full of a bucket load as they could, but no one mentioned that. You refused the help hoisting the buckets. Last thing you wanted to do was slow anyone down.

When the basement was emptied and your husband had left to pay the neighbors you found yourself alone in the large empty room. The six windows, three on each side allowed a soft light into the space. On sunny days large beams of sunlight would pierce the basement in long slanted rays, on overcast days like this one, there was more of an ethereal glow. The cavernous space was for the first time since August 1st, completely clear of all debris. Fine particles of dust were visible in the gentle glow of the windows; not as individual separate specs but rather as a translucent gathering that seemed to draw attention to the filtered light as if an entity in and of itself, a silent witness to the end of something big.

Hours. Days. Weeks. Months.

All that time. All those days that you refused to feel defeated; that you told yourself when the hits kept coming, one after the other… after the other… that quitting wasn’t even an option.

Doing.

Finishing.

Making it work.

That was the only way you ever even imagined that this would end.

Sure there had been disappointments but they were fleeting… this wasn’t a burden being here or working on any of this… it wasn’t easy… but it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

For a while when you had first started the demo, one of your old neighbors began making comments on your church’s TikTok account…

“Money pit… HA!

You’ll move back in no time.

Way too much work… how long before you sell it?”

You ignored his words…and you noticed that the further along you got, the less he commented. Now it was very clear why he had stopped… this place looked fucking gorgeous. The massive space was dripping with possibilities… and YOU… you and David and Jackie had brought it from a dank mold filled, damp, nasty smelling disaster to this… this incredible space with the old wooden planked ceiling and the stone walls… those gorgeous stone walls and the hidden brick chimney and entrance archway and even the foyer leading into the basement from the kitchen entrance… everything looked incredible.

And it all looked this way because of YOU.

The walls were nearly dry. The old cracked plaster was gone. The stink and damp air now smelled clean and crisp.

You walked to the north wall, admiring the stone, you ran your fingers across the 130 year old mortar and you smiled, and then without warning, you were sobbing…

You were feeling all the feelings… joy, gratitude, accomplishment, confidence. You might not have noticed it right then and there but you knew that from this point on you were never going to be the person that thought that she was incapapble of big things, that you were all done thinking so poorly of yourself and your abilities…

You were the woman who helped save a church from decades of severe water damage. You were the woman who took a 130 year old beloved community cornerstone and etched herself eternally into the history of something far bigger than herself.

You sat down on the floor. Head in your hands. And you cried, and you cried, and you cried…

You didn’t know it then but you were mourning.

You weren’t the woman who doubted herself anymore.

She was dead. This was her funeral.

This was the end of the demo on day one…

This is the same wall (different angle) after the demo was done…

Top left is the south wall on the day we moved in. Notice the mold behind the bottom of the shelves. At the time we thought that was one of two spots that we had to address. We thought we’d be done in no time… lol!

Top middle and top right is the north wall after the plaster was removed and the gutter leak was fixed. Notice the lift through the window and how wet that wall was?

Bottom is the north wall after the gutter had been repaired and the foundation waterproofed. There was still a lot of cleaning to do but nonetheless… the difference is quite pronounced.