It was 1989 and I had returned to work just after our second was born with a live in nanny taking care of our two sons. She had only just arrived in Canada. Her English was pretty good but a bit formal. I think we were a shock to her, as her previous employers insisted she wear a uniform and serve at their cocktail parties in upscale Greece. We just weren’t a Greek Tycoon kind of family. We lived in a very middle class house in a very middle class suburban neighbourhood…

I was at work one day when she called me in the afternoon.

” Oh Mrs (she always called me Mrs).. oh Mrs., it’s about the water. “

“What water?”

“The water in the bucket”

“What bucket?”

“The bucket on the floor in the living room”

“Maria, I don’t know what you mean. Why is there a bucket on the floor in the living room?”

“The bucket in the living room is full of the water coming through the ceiling”

That was how I found out we needed a new roof.

To this day whenever E and I have  come across a situation which makes no sense we say..   “Oh Mrs, it’s about the water”  it is code in our house for it doesn’t make sense and it doesn’t bode well.

But this weekend I can say oh Mrs.. it’s about the water with great joy and excitement. Because you see, yesterday we had hot showers. Real live hot showers in a shower in a bathroom in our new house with hot water coming out of the shower nozzle. No hot water poured into a sink for a sponge bath.. We are talking 15 minutes of standing under hot water just because we could..

How terrific is that? E is a genius.. An accountant who has replumbed the house, rewired the kitchen and installed gas lines and an on demand hot water tank with nothing to guide him but hours of thought and research… Mother always told me if I wasn’t going to marry a rich man to marry a handy one.. Apparently I took her advice to heart because

oh Mrs. it’s about the water…