Can these bones live again? Pt 1

So about a month ago I started a new job restoring historical windows. Pretty niche, eh? Yeah, I’ve kinda been a sucker for niche things. My last job (which got me into the restoration field) was working as a Resurfacing Technician for a surface repair and restoration company. Needless to say, I’ve had my hands deep in restorative work for well over a year now.

The crazy thing about my journey to restoration is that I didn’t really choose it. I didn’t seek it out. Hell, I wanted to be a welder, a priest, a cybersecurity specialist, a business owner, a recording studio manager…

But a historical window restorer??? That was certainly not on my bucket list.

But here I am.

Now let’s travel back in time and analyze how I got here.

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I had just moved to Michigan in order to date my future wife. It was only about a year past the pandemic and I had about two more semesters to go in order to finish my Bachelors degree. Now, it’s worth noting that online classes are not my strong suit and that’s what everyone had to switch to due to the pandemic. I’d literally rather spin bolts all day on a construction site then have to put up with a full time online university program.

And that’s exactly what I did after receiving a warm and fuzzy email saying that my university was kicking me out of their program.

Yup, you read that right. I got kicked out of my university.

With only two semesters left.

And so I had to figure out a way to get money. And not just any kind of money; fast money. And not just fast money; good money.

Which left me with very few options.

So where does a young man turn to if that kind of predicament were to arise? Prostitution? Gambling? Drug dealing?

Great guesses! Very close…but no.

…

THE TRADES!

Yes! The trades of course. Got my first gig as an iron worker and, thus, began my expedition into a world of blood, sweat, and nicotine.

Now let’s go back to the beginning of the article. I am now a window restoration tech. So I take historical forgotten tattered up windows and bring them back to life. Well, I’m learning to anyways. It’s quite the process. You see, when restoring an old window, you’ve gotta be rough yet graceful. Fast yet efficient. Creative yet precise. From stripping the paint off the sashes to repainting a fresh new coat, you’re constantly hovering in between the line of a bleeding heart artisan and a skilled technician.

Plus, something about uncovering timeless beauty hidden within an old rotted surface just gives me the chills.

That’s because within my soul, I, too, am rotted, broken, and in need of restoration.

I, too, have weathered storms, seasons, catastrophic events, and the inflictions of time.

And just like those old historic windows, I need a restoration technician to repair my weary soul.

I need The Divine Technician.

–m.

End of Pt 1

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