The Doggie Door and the Angel on My Shoulder

Whew!  I made it – albeit a little breathless.  Running under the garage door as it’s closing always gives me a little adrenaline rush.  I was dressed all in white and I did not want dirty garage door markings across the back of my snow -colored tailored jacket.

So there I stood in the driveway in a white designer hat, high heeled white leather boots, white trousers, the a-fore-to mentioned white woolen jacket, and white control-top panty hose.

The vice president of the cruise line where I worked doing my dream job would be arriving shortly in his new BMW (not white) to pick me up to go to the airport for our business trip.  We were flying first class and this was 1988 when first class was really first class.

Since there was no place to sit while I waited, I thought I would just sit on my suitcase.  It was then that I realized that my suitcase was locked in the garage along with my purse, my keys, my passport, and my airline ticket.  Did we have cell phones then?  If so, it too would have been in my purse.

Like a marathon runner on stilts I took off for the front door praying that I had forgotten to lock it.  No such luck.  I ran around the house as it started to sprinkle checking every door and window.  It was like lockdown at the state prison.

It was then that I spied the doggie door that our little Lhasa Apso, Croissant, used to go in and out of in our very private back yard.  Mentally I tried to measure it and all I came up with small.  But it was my only chance.  I weighed 99 pounds and had been a gymnast, so I thought my odds were in my favor.

The rain was falling a little harder as I quickly stripped out of my pristine white suit down to my panty hose and bra.  I lifted the flap of the doggie door and plunged forward.  And then I got stuck.  Yes, stuck.  In the rain in my underwear.  What if the pool man came and saw me like this?  What if the gardener came?  What if my boss found me half naked stuck in the doggie door?  What if we missed our flight?  I didn’t have time for any more “what ifs.”  I contorted myself in every imaginable position.  I always had an angel on my shoulder that I frequently spoke to so I asked her to get off and push and said a prayer.  I took a deep breath and visualized a woman giving birth and that baby coming forth out of that small opening and plop – I was in!

I scurried to get my damp clothes on and headed for the garage.  This time I took my suitcase and purse with all my valuables out of the garage before I hit the button and dove under the door as my boss pulled up in the driveway.