Message just sent to some family and friends, with names removed.
You are all doubtless familiar with the stories of how Mom was cleaning crayon marks off the picket fence when something compelled her to walk around the side of the house. A sycamore branch which had been eaten hollow by carpenter ants fell at that exact moment, demolished the very picket she was cleaning, and cracked the 2 x 4 holding the pickets. The scrap wood hauled away was 400 pounds so you can imagine what the main weight must have been!
The second time was when I wrongly assumed that the kitchen cabinet had a solid back adequate to hold it up when the stove hood was removed, so I had some guys remove the stove hood, whereupon the cabinet promptly began to collapse. It turned out that with those eight small crusty screws gone, the only thing holding the cabinet was a small piece of wood less than two inches across which cracked when the hood was taken out. Mom, having spent countless hours both at the stove and the sink, was the most likely to be crushed when this finally inevitably went--an event the stove hood was only delaying--the cabinet was in process of pulling away already, as a space could be seen between the back of the cabinet and the wall before then. LH (our late handyman) deserves credit for securing the cabinet firmly to the wall.
So, today I had CH (current handyman) remove the LPs off the shelves below the smaller of the wooden display cabinets for two reasons: 1. To extend the back so the shelves would hold the records without the back popping off. LH and I had discussed this but never got to it. 2. To have the shelves out of the way so when an electrician comes on January 19 he can access the outlet inconveniently located behind them.
I KNOW I TOLD LH TO SECURE THAT DISPLAY CABINET TO THE WALL!!! I didn't want to rely on the LP shelf alone holding it up or risk having it fall if jostled! So I FULLY TRUSTED that it was TOTALLY SAFE for CH to take those shelves away! Again, I ASSUMED because LH and I had discussed securing the cabinet to the wall, that it had been DONE! It was, of course, my fault in that I did not take the precaution of first opening the cabinet doors and running my hand along the back to be sure screws were really installed--I just trusted that there were--in part because LH did such a good job securing the kitchen cabinet!
By some miracle utterly defying the laws of physics, the following happened: CH removed the shelves and picked up in the area around the display cabinet. I also leaned under the cabinet and picked up. Mom kneeled underneath the display cabinet which was still attached to the wall and swept the floor. Mom waited, at least part of the time, right by the front door near the cabinet, for a neighbor to come pick her up to take her to the store. CH then went into the garage and rummaged around a considerable amount of time for wood with which to fix the back of the shelves. He went out to get a measuring tape, but came right back in because two large packages had just arrived. He had scarce set them on the table when
ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!
A resounding crash shook the front room, followed by sounds of smashing and breaking. CH and I went out to find the cabinet and its contents all over the floor, covering the entire area from that wall to the front door. The mess included, but was not limited to, VHS tapes, heavy vases, pictures, knickknacks, etc. It turned out there was NO SUPPORT OF ANY KIND, EITHER UNDER OR THROUGH THE BACK OF THE CABINET! Its entire weight had been resting on the shelves! The only things holding it in place were two brackets across the top of the cabinet, with a little screw through each of only 7/16" without the head--1/2" with the head--going down through the top of the cabinet!
I KNOW that LH and I discussed removing those shelves to fix the backs! As a matter of fact, notes in LH's writing are written on back of the shelf sides. Now, I don't know WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH LH expected to hold that display cabinet in place, when we took the shelves out to fix them! Perhaps he did intend to screw the display cabinet to the wall before moving the shelves and I simply assumed he had done so because we talked about it. (NEVER ASSUME!)
CH was absolutely heroic. He helped me pick up the pieces of everything and sort what and what not to save. The cabinet had glass doors which I had made of special heavy-duty glass which by an absolute miracle didn't break. I also hadn't set up displays inside yet, so no displays damaged. A few small items from the top were broken. The thing smashed into the most pieces was the small Japanese cat my niece gave me for good luck, to which I attribute soaking up most of the damage. What's more, the cabinet did part of the electrician's job for him. A surge protector was attached to the outlet, which the falling cabinet sheared off, ripping the outlet right out of the wall! Since the remains were still live, I had to cover them with duct tape. Everything we salvaged I can either fix or do without. It all needed sorting and cleaning anyway. Of course when Mom came home, CH teased her that she slammed the door so hard in leaving that the cabinet fell off the wall. The neighbor pointed out that she'd actually shown up early--had they gone when she originally planned, Mom could have been standing right there. Anyhow, the smashed remains of the Japanese cat will go with the piece of the kitchen cabinet and fence beam which I am saving to make a shrine to all the times Mom narrowly escaped being crushed like an insect.
Not much different than the original agreement, wish she would have come to her epiphany 6 months ago. But so happy and thankful she did...it has been extremely upsetting and stressful. It has worked out in the end, and makes me so happy for Brandon and RJ and for us, too. 
