A Real Holiday Celebration
It’s not really a holiday celebration unless something in the house decides to fall apart at the worst possible moment.
This year’s featured catastrophe?
A door.
A very important door.
The fire door between the garage and the house.
You know, the one that’s supposed to protect us, not trap us.
The Doorknob That Refused to Participate
The door was jammed.
It was stuck shut.
We couldn’t open it from either side.
This was not exactly the festive vibe we were going for.
We tried unscrewing the doorknob… nothing.
We tried taking the doorknob guts apart… still nothing.
The clear next step was to remove the door at the hinges.
Except…
It’s a fire door, which means it has a safety hinge that requires a special key.
A key we do not have.
A key that the long-ago previous homeowners did not leave behind.
A key that has apparently joined the Witness Protection Program with all the missing Tupperware lids.
The Mystery Pin and the Sticky-Outy Part
We spotted the real issue – a broken pin was blocking the latch mechanism (or, in highly technical terms, the sticky-outy part that was stuck inside the door frame).
It wouldn’t budge.
The only access was through the doorknob hole which didn’t provide enough room to get any tools in to unjam the latch.
The Holiday Language Was NOT In The Holiday Spirit
After many failed attempts and a whole lot of unfestive curse words, we finally pried out the old doorknob.
Without damaging the door – woo hoo!
By a stroke of dumb luck, we just happened to have a spare doorknob in the garage, and it was installed in record time.
Whew. Problem solved.
And just like that, we were able to cross Home Repair Crisis off our annual Thanksgiving To-Do List.
Why I Love These Moments (Even When I Don’t)
Here’s the funny thing:
Moments like this – ordinary frustrations, broken hardware, missing mystery keys – are the raw materials of great stories.
They have rhythm.
They have tension.
They have tiny victories.
You don’t need epic quests to write something memorable.
You just need real life… preferably without a stuck fire door next time.
Storytelling Takeaway
If you’ve ever had a holiday derailed by a malfunctioning appliance or an unexpectedly dramatic repair, congratulations.
You have the beginnings of a great story.
Real life is storytelling material.
Write it.
Shape it.
Find the rhythm.
Share the laugh.
Your everyday moments matter.
And they make fabulous stories
Liz Brenner
Everyone has a story to tell.
Even you.
Especially you.
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