The Young Man and the Ladder

Right from the start please know that this is not another story about my crown molding project, so please do not tune out. We are all in agreement that I have written and talked long enough about the "you know what project".

So this last Saturday my 13-year-old grandson spent some time helping me with a home project that required two ladders and two sets of hands, use your imagination if you must.

I am grateful for any time that I get with my grandkids but this was especially valuable because B4 (short for Billy the 4th) was genuinely interested in helping me on the project; I envy no man! It does not hurt that he is pretty tall and very smart. He caught a mistake on my saw set up before I made the cut that would have cost me a very long piece of trim molding and made the miter in that particular corner way off.

But this story is more about "the ladder" than it is the saw. The ladder in the pictures was given to me by my father. Raising six kids my Dad did not have a budget for tools. I am sure that the ladder along with every other tool that my Dad had was a hand-me-down from a neighbor or relative. I have had the ladder for at least 40 years. I remember the ladder from my earliest childhood memories, making the ladder at least 60 years old, probably much older given the fact that my Dad didn't purchase the ladder.

As my grandson stood on that ladder on Saturday it dawned on me that he was the fourth generation of Mulligans to use that ladder. My Dad, my son, my grandson, and I have all navigated that ladder. I use the word navigate as the ladder is showing some signs of its age. More accurately, the thing is a safety hazard, we have named the ladder "Old Rickety". Oh and just for good measure, all four generations of Mulligans to use the ladder have the same exact name, William John Mulligan. Top that ancestry.com!

Needless to say "Old Rickety" has some sentimental value if only a small measure of practical value. The reality is that the ladder almost went to the landfill last July when we downsized from our previous home. We had lots of stuff to get rid of before we moved. We actually filled two, twenty-yard dumpsters along with selling and giving away a bunch of other stuff. During the downsizing we had this "system", anything that had to go in the dumpster was left just outside our front door and when enough stuff accumulated, we made the trek from the front door down the driveway to the dumpster. Trust me when I tell you I was not very "sentimental" about the stuff going into the dumpster. Anything that went into that dumpster didn't have to be moved.

I had that ladder in my hands at least five times but could not make the trip to the dumpster. The ladder stayed outside the front door for hours, maybe days. My wife asked me more than once about the ladder. I cannot explain it, but I could not part with the ladder, we put it in the POD and moved it to our new home where my grandson is making his mark on "Old Rickety.

So what is a man to do, how does this story end? I see only one possible path forward. I am going to give the ladder to my grandson and he and B5 can use it long after I am gone!