House Keys

About ten years ago it became clear that the front door was in desperate need of a new handle. The parents had put off acquiring a new one for as long as they could (things like door handles and door keys seem to always be at the bottom of the list). The new handle came with two keys. My father kept one for himself. The other was bestowed upon me.

My dear aunt recently came to visit. When she visits she's here and there and everywhere, visiting other family and friends and taking care of business. To make it easy for her to come and go as she needed, Pa decided to give her a house key for the duration of her visit. Pa's key had long ago been given to a son-in-law. Ma borrowed my key and made six new house keys with it. Making a copy for my aunt gave her the perfect opportunity to make a copy for herself, Pa, the little sister, and the little brother (who will want one when he comes home from his two year sabbatical). While Pa did once have a key, neither Ma nor any of my siblings have ever possessed a house key.

After Ma made copies and returned my key, I wondered aloud how it was that I ended up with a house key. I was in high school when it was given to me, and while I was out late at night on the weekends, I rarely had my keys with me and preferred instead to use the garage. I also spent some time living in Virginia. My trusty house key lived there with me. These days, I often use the house key but that is only because my comings and goings have been shaped by it. Not having one would not have been an inconvenience. So how is it that of all the people in my home at the time, my two parents and five siblings, I ended up with the house key?

Ma was excited to tell me that she knew the reason. I was surprised both by her enthusiasm and by her professed knowledge. It didn't seem like the type of information Ma would have known in the first place, let alone kept in her head all these years.

I was given the key because she deemed me to be the most responsible person in the house. She knew that if she were to give me the key it would be ready and waiting when she found time to make copies. And so I was given the key.

Had I known the reason I was chosen to have a key I likely would have refused to take it. Thank goodness her calculations were correct. I can say with assurance, I have never lost my house key.