One Minute, Because Someone Up There Loves Me

The whole thing happened yesterday morning. I'm still shocked to be honest, trying to process what happened and also trying to imagine what could have happened if someone up there would not love me.

We're preparing to celebrate Easter and in some of the European countries, there's a tradition (dying I must admit), according to which boys and men are visiting and watering ladies on the second day of Easter. In small communities, mostly in villages, this is still a thing, men are visiting female relatives and friends and spray perfume on their head, so that they don't wither and wish them happy Easter.

This is the modern version of the tradition, as a couple of centuries back men took the ladies out to the well and poured a bucket of water on them, literally. Many had died like this over the years as in April it's still cold and pneumonia and meningitis used to be not treatable back in those days. I'm glad I did not live back then, because as nice this tradition seems these days, it's still tiring to cook, bake for 2 days and have guests all day, one after the other, not to mention the smell on your head and your clothes.

As I said, this tradition is on its way of dying, but it was brought back to me, in a very different way.

Yesterday morning I went to the bathroom to wash my hands, after which I went to the study, which is 3m away fromthebathroom. Then I heard a very sharp and unknown noise, so I went out of the study immediately to see where that noise comes from and ended up in the bathroom. As I entered, saw water coming out from under the sink, like a fountain you see in parks.

I don't know if you've been in a similar situation, but even if you haven't, you can imagine me standing there for a second, covered by water, trying to figure out what to do. Lucky me, I know my flat inside out and knew where the tap that turns the water off was, so I could act quickly. Again, lucky me as only half of the bathroom was flooded and the amount of water spilled was nothing, compared to what could have happened.

After turning the water off, I tried to get myself together and see where the water was coming from and even if I could not see exactly, had a clue about what the problem was. Being Good Friday, you can imagine the headache I had when I tried to find a solution to my problem. Lucky me again, I called my plumber and in 2 hours, the problem was solved.

They say a picture worth a thousand words. I suppose the photo above says it all, no need for an explanation. I haven't noticed the damage till the pipe burst, because this flexible pipe is under the sink, in a place you can't see, unless you dismantle the tap.

After the problem got solved, I could not turn my brain off and was thinking how lucky I am. Obviously first I was scared, or frightened, whatever word you prefer, then angry and frustrated, but after the pipe was fixed, I started to think back.

There's someone I know has been in a similar situation. The guy was not home and 6 square meter of water flooded 6 levels in his flat. He was lucky as insurance covered it, but imagine the damage and frustration everyone in the building had to go through.

I had different plans for yesterday, I wanted to go out, to run some errands, but didn't after all. I changed my mind and looking back now, it was the right decision. Imagine not being home, when the pipe burst. Would have flooded everyone in the building and that means 3 levels. Believe it or not, the amount of water I lost due to this was less than a bucket of 10L.

Thinking back, it's incredible how lucky I am and yesterday, all day, I had one word in my head and that was "lucky". I don't believe in many things, like faith or horoscope or other hocus pocus, but something clearly happened yesterday and I'm really glad things turned out as they did.

Literally there was one minute between the pipe burst and me discovering it. One minute.