Last fall Diane & I were in NH staying at my mother’s house.  One of the first things I noticed was the missing window pane in garage door.  The last time a pane of glass covered that spot was in the summer of 1972.  I remember it well.  My brother set up as catcher in front of the garage door.  Somehow we thought this was ok since we were throwing a rubber baseball.  My fastball was up and away.  It got past my brother.  The rubber baseball went through the garage door window as easily as any ordinary baseball could have.
        I don’t remember if there were any consequences to my actions, but I did feel that it was up to my father to fix the window.  He did not share that sense of responsibility so there was a 12”X18” opening into the garage for many years.  Eventually my mother covered the opening with card board and tape.
        The issue came around full circle in the summer of 2002. On a visit to grandma’s house my son picked up a baseball bat and a golf ball from the catchall box in the garage.  He took them to the back yard behind the garage and gave in to the irresistible urge to hit the golf ball as far as it would go.  Of course the golf ball veered off the bat and broke one pane of the window on the back door of the garage.  Somehow the deed fell below my radar screen and my mom did her cardboard and tape repair job.Perhaps I felt a lingering sense of guilt. 
        I offered to fix the window in 2006, but my mom declined my offer.  She had removed the cardboard to make an opening in the garage so the cats could get out of the weather.  I was off the hook, but the guilt remained. 
        Last fall I again offered to fix the window I broke and this time my offer was accepted.  I didn’t feel responsible for the pane of glass my son broke, but if he followed my example he would be obliged to fix it in 2040.  In the end I decided to break the cycle and took up the task of fixing both windows.  I bought the two panes of glass and with a little trial and error fixed windows.