Shortly after supper last night, my young neighbor rang our doorbell, her two-year-old little boy planted firmly on her hip.
“Do you think George could help my husband and his brother take something off my brother-in-law’s truck?” she asked. George was out the front door immediately, always ready to help. Then I looked at what was on the truck. It was a huge wardrobe, solid wood, and very heavy. That was confirmed by my young neighbor when she told me that it had taken four men to load it onto the truck, and there was no way just her brother-in-law and husband could do it by themselves.
I looked at those two strapping over-six-feet young men barely in their thirties and worried about my man. If it took four young men to load it onto the truck, how was my dear husband, twice their age and half their size, going to replace two of them?
“Are you sure you want him to help?” I asked. “We’re old people,” I joked. Sort of joked. George assured me he could handle it. I sat on the front step and watched, ready to call an ambulance at the drop of a hat…or the drop of a wardrobe.
My husband jumped easily onto the truck bed and took up the lead position. One of the young men said he wished they had something to help slide the wardrobe across the truck bed. “I’ve got just the thing,” George said, coming back into the house to get sliders. That was my opportunity.
“Honey, are you sure you can do this? That thing is awfully heavy and I don’t want you to get hurt. We’re old people, you know.” He laughed and assured me he could handle it, no sweat. He grabbed the sliders and returned to the truck. I sat out on the step again. Even though I was being devoured by mosquitos, I couldn’t desert my post. Maybe I should grab the phone in case I need to call for help without delay, I thought. But I didn’t want to leave, in case I missed something.
The young men had a beach towel they were using to try to protect the wardrobe from scratches. It was pitifully inadequate. George returned to get a big mover’s blanket and our handtruck out of the garage, and I again asked him to be careful. He reassured me this was not a strain on him and commented that he loved having the right equipment to help them out. You accumulate a lot of the right equipment over the years.
The young men were pleased with the blanket but skeptical of the handtruck, thinking it was too small to be of any use. Once they got the wardrobe off the truck, though, and were able to get it over the curb with the handtruck, one young man said, “This is going to work!” My husband just smiled.
My husband is in the doorway, holding up the wardrobe.
It was backbreaking work getting that heavy piece of furniture into the house, and my husband was at the heaviest end with most of the weight on him as the two young men towered over him and took up the rear. I was so relieved once the task was over and George emerged unscathed and with a spring in his step. Â My neighbor’s brother-in-law said to me, “George is going to go to bed early tonight!”
“Naw,” I said. “He’s very strong. This was a piece of cake for him.”
Coming East 
I understand how you feel. Sometimes my husband worries me when he readily steps into situations like George did. But he always comes out fine. I’m glad you captured the events with your camera. This is a peach of a post of the middle-age life and how we women worry about our men. 🙂
I don’t know why I worry, E.C., because George is well aware of what he can and cannot do. He still is amazingly strong, especially for an “old guy.”
George is certainly not as old as you said. So glad everything turned out well! Next time when you need a favor, I’m sure your young neighbors will jump to their feet to help!
George doesn’t know the meaning of the word “old” yet, Shanghai. And our sweet neighbor has helped us on several occasions. They are the parents of those sweet girls I’ve written about many times, by the way.
Yes, I noticed you had your camera in hand, too! lol We wear those things like an accessory, don’t we? My hubby also has a hand truck and old blankets–and has had the occasion to use them quite a few times.
Yes, Patti, you and I are never ones to miss a photo op!
So glad that ended well. I know just how you were feeling. I watched my husband helping on the roof of our oldest son’s house and kept asking why they didn’t wait for son #2 to help, thinking the younger guys need to be up there, not the older guy. This story also ended well, but it sure does make me nervous when he does that kind of stuff. I suppose that means I’m old. 😉
I guess it’s our nature, Robin, to worry about our men, but older men are many times the wiser ones and know how to do things better and safer.
Good for George. I would have been running the other way!
For some reason this reminded me of the old Laurel and Hardy film “The Music Box” where they were moving a piano up several flights of stairs. One of their funniest ever and the only one they got an Academy Award for.
I remember that one, Al. Fortunately, the wardrobe did not suffer the same fate as the piano!
Just wondering…so is a handtruck what Easterner’s call a dolly? So glad this story has such a happy ending. Way to go George…and Susan in the cheering section with not a megaphone but a telephone! Any more knocks on the door last night?
Yes, a handtruck and a dolly are the same thing, Georgette. No more knocks yet, but the wardrobe still has to be brought upstairs. Maybe George won’t be needed. My daughter laughed at me because she said I couldn’t be too worried if I ran inside to grab the camera.
George looked stronger than those two younger guys, and he knew he was doing.
I don’t think he was stronger, Amy, but he sure knew what he was doing, and that’s the key. My neighbor said she was glad George helped because the wardrobe would still be in the truck!
I’m so glad your story had a happy ending and that your hubby came out the hero! I absolutely love the ending “this was a piece of cake for him,” after all your worry. So funny and so endearing. I wish you two were our neighbors. Think of all the equipment we would have. 🙂
Thanks, Dor. Yes, we’d have everything we could possibly need between us.
George sure did show those young whipper snappers!! Go George!! You guys are great neighbors.
Ha-ha, LD! They don’t have anything on him…except youth. Ah, youth.
My husband builds furniture, so he has lots of “stuff” for moving heaving things around. He likes nothing better than to get out all of that equipment and lift something big. I used to imagine the worst, but I’ve learned that with the right leverage, the weight doesn’t matter so much. Bruce says, “work smarter, not harder.” Looks like your husband has that covered. 🙂
… moving heavy things….
Funny, Shary, I read your comment as “heavy,” not heaving. Shows how our brain self-corrects.
You’re right, Shary. I don’t know what I was so worried about. My husband knows his limitations and wouldn’t have done anything foolish. But I’ll always worry about him. That’s my job.
I can totally relate to this post!! We are the ‘old people’ in our neighborhood, and yes, we have ALOT of equipment. Our neighbors all say they have the little kids toys and my hubby has the grown up tools. So glad your hubby is okay and it worked out. What would these kids do without us??
Yes, we are pretty drained useful, DAF!
I would’ve been on the steps too (and so glad I didn’t have to HELP!!). And I’m quite envious of the handtruck — I’ve always wanted one of those. They are SO helpful!
That handtruck was my Dad’s, Julia. I can’t tell you how many times it has come in handy.
You said what I was thinking: You accumulate the right stuff over the years. And the right knowledge, too. Common sense and experience are the chief reasons to ask an “old person” for help. Those two younger guys would have been lost without your man. And if George had seen them struggling, I bet he would have gone to help anyway. 🙂 Congrats on marrying one of the good ones!
Thanks, SC. Yes, I love how our age has made us wise. And I have to agree with you. I think those two young men would have been lost without my older one.
KG said it…WISE! Look at George..his shirt is tucked in and he is wearing a belt. Belts are a sure sign of a man who knows how to do stuff. I know, my husband wears one. He could turn that belt into a tool in 2 seconds flat..it’s a sign of being prepared. However, even after all these years, I to would be on the step ready to dial 911.
Your comment cracked me up, Life! Can’t wait to show George.
I know that it makes my dad very happy to be useful in guy like things. That would of been my dad with the hand truck and moving blanket (threw out the blanket 5 months ago after several decades of use) and you played my mom perfectly with the exception that she would of been inside (not an outdoorsy lady) with the phone in her hand. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how “old” you are it’s the wisdom in getting the job done and using the tools (including the human body) you have properly.
Back in the day, there is the story of how the player piano got into our basement. Many of the neighborhood men were involved and many of the neighborhood men through out their backs despite being in their young adulthood. Oh and the thrilling moving of a solid wood playscape from one house to another house in the neighborhood. That was last year by my brother and his in-laws, where my husband of 46 said, “I’m getting too old for this stuff!” Guys crack me up BUT they are important for getting the job done 😉
What a great response, Blue! Loved you piano story and your description of your parents. Nice to know that I’m not alone in worrying.
Lovely post. You and your husband aren’t “old”. You are wise.
Thanks, KG. I like your take on it!
You sound JUST LIKE ME!! I guess it’s normal as our men “mature” for us to worry about them in these situations. I’m glad everything turned out well, and I’m sure your hubby was so pleased to have things like the hand truck and blanket to help with this project.
Glad you can relate, Dianna. Experiences like this help make our men feel like youngsters again. I love it!