Never a Good Time

When Carter was in Preschool she had a friend whose Mom was an expert house renovator. I remember going to a house she had recently moved into and redone and was instantly envious of her laundry room with its new fangled front loader washer and dryer. They were cherry red and more beautiful than appliances he a right to be. I went home and looked at my standard, no frills white top loader in my garage. My washer and dryer were only about eight years old, but looked as if they had been designed in the seventies. I waited for them to fail so I could get one of those front loaders.
Fast forward two years and Carter at six and I were walking through Sears on our way to another store in the Mall. We lingered at the colorful washers. A lonely salesman came right up to us inquiring if we were in the market for new appliances. Before I could say anything Carter responded, “We are just dreaming.”
The years went by and friends who had front loaders began to complain about the way they smelled and the size of the loads. I came to appreciate my old reliable top loader. I stopped coveting new machines and saw my twenty year old appliances as great investments.  
Then today, as I had two loads to wash for spring break the washer gave up the ghost. I put a load of whites in and when I returned 30 minutes later I was accosted by a burning smell from the motor and a machine full of water and still dirty clothes. Twenty plus years was a good run, but why did it have to stop working today?
I retrieved the whites and took the wet laundry to my neighbor’s Mary Eileen’s house and imposed on her laundry room. Between loads I went to Lowes to purchase a new washer and dryer set. No dreaming, no front loader, just the pair that consumer reports told me to get. They were not in stock, so maybe breaking right before spring break was a good thing. At least I won’t be home wanting to do laundry looking at my broken old standard washer. You served me well.