Crisis curriculum

Three weeks without consistent heat and you learn things about someone you thought you already knew everything about.

Crisis curriculum

Like how Jake becomes this methodical problem-solver the minute something breaks – making lists, calling repair guys, researching furnace models online at 11 PM. Meanwhile I turn into a human burrito and start hoarding blankets like we’re preparing for the apocalypse.

But here’s the weird thing: we got good at it. Not the being cold part – that sucked – but the working together part. He’d bring me coffee while I was bundled up studying, I’d warm his hands when he came back from yet another hardware store run.

Window check number fifty-seven today.

We developed this whole system of layers and shared body heat and taking turns checking the thermostat every twenty minutes like it might magically fix itself.

Now that the heat’s actually working again, I keep catching myself doing these crisis habits. Still checking the window for drafts, still keeping extra blankets within arm’s reach. Jake caught me hoarding tea bags in the kitchen yesterday and just started laughing. Apparently we both came out of this thinking we’re more prepared for anything now.

Funny how a broken furnace can teach you that you’re actually pretty solid together when things fall apart.