Ladder Holders
One spring day, I had some work to do around our old house. I had to
climb up to the second story to do a bit of work on a window. This window
faced the back of the house. There was a very narrow ledge for me to
stand on beneath the window.
I put the ladder against the ledge but did not extend the ladder very far
past the ledge. I climbed the ladder got off onto the ledge and did my
repair.
When I turned around to get down, the ledge suddenly shrunk. It was
much smaller than when I had climbed up. And the ladder was too
short. I didn’t have room to lean over to grasp the ladder. It was
a lightweight aluminum ladder. And the ground was uneven. And the
wind had come up, threatening to blow me and the ladder to the ground.
I simply did not think that I could get down the ladder by myself. I
needed someone at the other end to hold the ladder for me.
I looked into the backyard. Henry was laying under a tree chewing on a
stick. PD was sniffing around the back yard to see what critters had been
visiting.
I called for Kathy. No answer. I called again, a bit
louder. No response. I may have called a few more times. And
my voice got louder, with a bit of panic in it. Kathy was deep in the
house and could not hear me.
I thought. I knew it was crazy. All those Lassie movies?
No dog really would go running off to find a family member if you fell in the
well. Would they? Well, nothing else was working.
So, I called out “PD! Henry!” PD looked over and ran toward the
ladder. Henry continued to be involved with his stick. PD looked up
at me, with his head cocked to one side, and his ears pricked forward.
“Go get momma!” I said, in desperation. “Go get mamma!” I repeated. PD ran over to the back door and ….
and ….
… he barked! PD started barking and barking. Kathy could not
hear my voice when she was in the house. But she DID hear
PD’s bark. Kathy came to the back door to see what PD was barking
at.
Finally! Kathy was at the door and she was close
enough to hear me. I called down to her and asked her to help me get
down, which she did. PD, the brilliant dog that he was, managed to get just the
help I needed.
With Kathy holding onto the ladder, I felt safe stepping off of the ledge and climbing down. I had never before realized how important a ladder holder is.
Kathy has helped me go up and down a lot of ladders since then. She always warns me that she is not strong
enough to hold the ladder if it starts to fall.
But that’s not the point. The
point is that she adds that sense of security, that sense of stability, and
that sense of safety that I need in order to do whatever job it is that needs
to get done.
Your ladder holder may complain that they are too weak or believe
that they did very little to help you.
But the truth is, they have the most important job.
Ladder holders are important in this world. They are the unsung heroes that help people
do the scary, dangerous jobs at the top of the ladder. They are the support that we need to
accomplish our goals in life. We all
dream of doing something that is just beyond our reach. And we all need that one person, no matter
how small, no matter how weak, to just hold the ladder while we reach out and
achieve what we could not have achieved without them.
There is currently a phrase that foretells someone is about
to do something stupid by themselves: “Hold my beer.”
I think that there should be a new phrase to indicate someone
is about to do something brave and that reflects the presence of a loving
relationship: “Hold my ladder.”
I just want to say thank you to Kathy, my main ladder
holder, and thank you to all of the other people in my life who have held
ladders for me. Everyone of you are
special, important people in my life.
