He looked around the room.

“I wanted to finish it before showing you.

Then I kept finding another thing that needed repair, another bill that needed paying, another reason to wait.”

He shook his head.

“Your mother used to tell me I could spend so much time preparing for life that I’d forget to live it.”

A faint smile appeared.

“She was right about more things than I cared to admit.”

I looked at the mixing console.