Today July 22nd is my mothers birthday… and I’m thinking about all the gifts she gave me throughout her life. One of those gifts was sage advice. This post is one of those memories I still laugh about today..and use frequently.

My mom was well noted for her expertise in the use of malapropisms like Yogi Berra. In case you don’t know the meaning of a malapropism, it’s the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect, as in, “Texas has a lot of electrical votes”, rather than “electoral votes”. A few years back I asked her for advice about whether I should get involved in a delicate family matter with my in-laws.

Her response was: “Don’t go knocking on broken doors” Donnie

I thought about what she’d said for a moment and then with a smile on my face I asked… What in the hell does “Don’t go knocking on broken doors” mean? We both laughed for a minute and then she replied… It means mind your own business…

I couldn’t help thinking that she’d heard a superstition about doors and somehow had it mixed up. Old timers always equated mysteries and symbolism to doors which have become common day superstitions.

Doors can represent a beginning or an ending. A doorway can lead to a new path and close up an old one. It can lead to mystery, fortune, and danger. To stand in the doorway is to be neither here or there, but in the in-between world.

One of these superstitions I learned from Maria Papalambros a Greek friend was when you visit a friend, you must leave by the same door you entered to bring you both good luck. If you enter in one door and then leave through a different door, bad luck will befall you both.

So I wondered what don’t go knocking on broken doors could have possibly meant. My research into the symbolism about broken doors and broken doors in dreams indicates a possible catastrophe has been diverted and suggest that I should be blocked somehow. So did she mean things could have been gone really bad and didn’t, so don’t stir the pot to make matters worse? Or did she mean you never know what’s behind a door especially a broken one?

The more I thought about her advice the more I came to believe she meant “Mind your own business” or maybe she was offering me a tip on opening doors into other people business properly: DO NOT!

My gift to you is Thanks…. for the gifts you gave me on your birthday Ma…