Have you ever watched that old game show…Let’s Make a Deal? Remember that one? It was the show where host Monty Hall would offer someone in the audience a great deal…they could have a prize of his choosing or they could take what was behind one of the curtains…
Curtain number one might have been a nice new refrigerator or some other lovely kitchen appliance. Curtain number two could have been a new car. And curtain number three? That curtain hid a broken down old car…or a rusted out refrigerator…or some other terrible thing that would have you wishing you’d stuck with the first prize.
That was the hook.
There was a risk involved. You could take the boring prize Monty was offering…a few hundred dollars in cash, perhaps…or you could go for what was behind one of those curtains. And you never knew which curtain had the good prizes, and which one had the crappy one.
As for me, I was trying to find a new car.
I didn’t make any secret of the fact that I was hoping for a new car to ease the old car woes we have been having around here. All weekend I was researching new cars…and today I even went out to test drive a few. It was a fun adventure. I was all ready to sign the papers and take the new keys when the real world version of Let’s Make a Deal showed up. But I didn’t pick the curtain with the shiny new car…or the fancy kitchen appliances…I picked the curtain with the broken marriage behind it.
After a heated family moment, followed by a lengthy deliberation—both of which are far too private to discuss in print—it would appear that my marriage is in jeopardy.
So…no new car…but maybe a new life.
I just really wasn’t ready to get rid of the old one yet. It might have had a few holes…a snag here or there…but it fit really nicely, and I was comfortable with it. I guess we should never take things for granted…you never know when it will disappear behind curtain number three…
Until the next time…I’ll be shedding a few tears and hoping it was all a dream.