The simple joy of a garage door?

Peter has given me alot of freebies in my life and like I said, taught me things I could have never learned through any course or seminar or self help book. I guess you could say living it and giving it through and by Peter. Recently, I told you how Peter taught me how to handle embarrassment. It was that rather loud moment in the library when the siren was ringing that I just gave it up..embarrassment that is. At that point, I had either gotten used to the moments, decided I did not really "give a rip" anymore, or just came to grips with it. For whatever reason, embarrassing moments were just opportunities to laugh about the situation.

Another one of Peter's gifts to me is his ability to just enjoy the absolute simple things in life. Peter really does not need much to make him happy, and in that simplicity, I realize all those things that seem so important at times, put in perspective, aren't really necessary.

One of Peter's loves is garage doors. The sheer going up and coming down of garage doors elicits laughter and cries of joy. A garage door. Up and down. If only life was that simple. Now this simple gift of enjoyment did come with a bit of a price. The garage door, has two springs. You see, I am well versed in garage doors as I am the proud owner of many new springs. Those springs can only go up and down so many times. I am also on a first name basis with the garage door company. Why the last time I called, they asked about the family, how has life has been. Not your usual garage door business questions. They like us...you see, I have paid for all their children's college education through garage door repairs. The last time I was told, this garage door can never be fixed again. It is on it's way to garage door heaven, being blessed by Peter regularly.

I know it is in those "autistic like" behaviors that make Peter attached to the garage door. In his escapee days, he was often found playing in someones garage. When the neighbor who he was visiting, heard their door going up and down, they would find Peter and bring him home. Going for walks, Peter had a need to want to shut any open garage door, so conversations centered around how those neighbors really needed that garage door open and no, you cannot shut their door, and if I would have looked away, a beeline would have been made for the door. It was like a magnet pulling Peter to the switch.

Because he loved these doors so much, and we were trying to cut down on garage door repairs, we tried to be creative and found toys with garage doors that opened. Jackpot, we thought we were so smart. Only they too would break. We also developed unwritten garage door rules at our house, that state only Peter is in charge of opening and closing. Often I would hear Mike explaining this to his friends, warning them not to touch the button as they looked on with this somewhat confused look. And Mike, he was serious...do not mess with my brother's garage door, man. To this day, we have garage door conversations with our guests.

So this door,this simple garage door can keep Peter occupied for hours. To Peter, it is entertainment, intriguing, joy, so simple, so rewarding. Really, think about,if only we could find joy in something that simple! As Peter recently told me..there's nothing like a good garage door.