Goodbye Lise!

Anne Mehrling

April 15

Below is a peaceful picture, taken at the Chinese buffet in town the day before Lise left. We were sated, having eaten ourselves into a food coma before going home.

Daughter Lise and I walked to the stop sign the day she left. We expected a pleasant day, not an explosion. Son John $ came from his shower as we arrived at home. His explanation was shocking. When he turned on the water, the toilet behind him exploded! Water shot across the room, knocking a bottle of shampoo off the shelf in the shower. He knew where the cutoff valve was behind the toilet and pushed against the spewing water to reach it. The hose that brings fresh water to the toilet had broken. Gallons of water covered the floor, but he sopped it up with towels and kept the flood from reaching the wooden floor in the hallway. His first thought was that it was good that he was the one in the line of fire, not one of us.

We are not sure what happened. The day before, both Lise and $ went below the house with me to change the water filter. (We have a well, and all the water we use goes through that filter.) I couldn't turn the valves, nor could I unscrew the container with the filter. $ did it all, and he pressed a button to release the pressure. He thinks it was back pressure that caused the water line to the toilet to explode hours later. Lise immediately called the plumber, and he promised to come first thing the next day. Whew! Things were under control. We proceeded to take her to the airport. I took a shot of my son and daughter as they smoked outside the airport.

John and Lise washed all the towels, and they were drying as we drove her to the airport. As we put them away, he pointed out the bits of toilet paper that were clinging to the wall. I took quick photos before he cleaned the wall.

I'm very thankful $ will be here to tell the plumber exactly what happened in the bathroom. We hope the man will be able to diagnose the problem so that it won't happen again.