Being a single mom, I knew very little about how to maintain my home.
My dad never taught me what to do because he thought I would have a husband to the home’s maintenance.
He was busy teaching my brothers how to take care of small electrical and plumbing matters. When my kitchen sink was running slow, and I noticed water in the bottom of the cabinet, the first thing I did was call a plumber. I had to get the leak fixed or I would end up with mold in the cabinet, which wouldn’t be safe for my baby. When my dad found out I called a plumber, he was furious. He wanted to know what I hadn’t called him. I remembered how he kicked me out of the house when he found out I was pregnant. He didn’t want a cheap floozy living with him. My fiance was in the service, and we planned on getting married when he got home, but my dad had never met him and thought he was in my imagination. The plumber was at the house when dad got there. He told me I needed to call my homeowner’s insurance company and tell them I needed to remediate the mold. He said the sink had to have been leaking long before I moved into the house. The insurance company took care of the mold and paid to have the flooring replaced and new pipes put into my sink. Dad shrugged and said he could have made the same suggestion, but since the plumber would get paid by my insurance and he wouldn’t, I should let the plumber handle the job.