You know that really annoying chirp smoke detectors make when they’re not working? Well, the one in my boys’ room has been doing it for a couple days. Replacing the battery didn’t help.

So tonight, when we got home from baseball, I got a small stool and a screwdriver and I replaced that stupid thing all by myself.

It’s not that it was hard. It was literally two screws and installing batteries.

It’s just that, well, I’d never done that before. It’s one of those things I would have asked Vance to do. A “man job,” if you will. Those are always a little triggering for me because they reinforce the loss. They highlight it.

Tonight instead of waiting for someone else to do it, my dad, one of my sons, a friend…I just did it. It wasn’t a big deal.

But it was a very big deal.