A leak in our apartment

There's a leak in our apartment.

It's been there for a few years now. Actually for over 5 years.

It pre-dates my husband and I being together. It pre-dates Freyja and Kees. It's just there all the time. We've been trying to get it fixed for the last two years ... since we've been back in Amsterdam. (Obviously I'd been trying to get it fixed before then, but without luck.)

We live in an apartment building which is split into 3 apartments and a dentists office.

Our leak is coming from the roof. The roof of the whole building. This means we can't just get it fixed. We have to discuss it with the other owners and get repairs approved. Five years I've been trying to get this fixed.

I've had plumbers come and look. Some of them climb up on the roof (five levels high) and tell me it's too high for them. Or that they have a fear of heights ... Or haven't I got a husband who can get up with there with some putty??

But the fact is that they're just not really interested in poking around in my awkward old roof to see if they can find the leak. If I'm really lucky, they'll charge me a fortune, smear some putty around and take off ... leaving me with the off-chance that it might actually be fixed. It's not of course. Fixed that is.

My husband has seized upon this issue like a man possessed. Our fellow owners are not that keen to spend any money on this. Of course not - they don't have water dripping through their ceiling on to their furnishings. They are a bit like ostriches ... they stick their heads in the sand and hope that when they pull their heads out the leak will have been miraculously fixed. (I don't believe in miracles anymore.)

So anyway, it started raining the day before yesterday. Of course our leak is letting in lots and lots of water. My husband immediately got worked up about it and wanted to drag the chairman of our owners association up to our apartment to personally witness the affected soggy area. However, he wasn't around. So we took photos and emailed them instead.

We need to get this leak fixed this summer. I don't think our ceiling/roof will last through another winter. I keep waiting for the ceiling to collapse completely one of these days. Our bathroom is directly above the affected area of the ceiling and I'm waiting for the bath to come crashing down ...

Isn't it amazing what we get worked up about???

I'm awed to think that this leak has been around since long before I'd even thought of Freyja, let alone Kees. I'm stunned at the amount of energy this stupid leak is taking up in our lives. I'm amazed at how our fellow owners can just ignore what is happening to our building. They surely wouldn't have such a laissez-faire attitude if it was their ceiling sagging with water and dripping onto their furnishings???? I mean, they acknowledge how awful and inconvenient it is, but really, it's not their problem.

A bit like my children I guess.

We forget what islands people can be sometimes. I forget that it requires effort on someone's part to connect with another person. And sometimes people don't want to - because it's too difficult. It's easier to just turn your back and focus on your own island (oops, I meant life ...)

Connection with people requires effort and focus and a desire for a connection.

But sometimes life is like a leak ... it's easier to ignore it and assume that it will just get fixed or otherwise go away.