Things That Break

Things break. Things with springs, gears, wheels, sprockets. Usually they break one at a time with months - perhaps years - in between. But lately, the small appliances that make our life easier have been breaking in rapid succession. First it was the garage door opener. How did we ever get into the garage without it? The door is heavy and groans in protest every time we pull at the handle. If it's raining, we get wet. It could be worse, though. It could be January with blowing and drifting snow.

Next the washing machine broke. This posed a bigger problem. I called the appliance repairman. It will be a few days, he told us. Ugh. The laundry piled up. And up. Should I go to the laundromat? I wondered. No, better to wait. Laundromats are almost as depressing as bus stations.

Then the weed whacker broke. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal -- and it isn't, really. I just have trouble getting to my garden. The tall grasses spread into my flower beds. Everything looks messy. Maybe I should buy an old fashioned pair of clippers. They never break.

Now our air conditioner is on the fritz. We had to turn it off. It will be a while before the repairman can get here and I am not happy. Air conditioner repairmen are a hot commodity during the summertime. And Long Island is warm and humid. Doors and drawers swell and nothing closes properly. Another inconvenience.

It's all right, though. Eventually these appliances will be repaired and life will go on.

Some things are harder to fix. My son's college roommate, Chrispy (actually Chris P.), woke up a few months ago with a pain in his neck. For a while he ignored it, but the pain grew worse. He didn't have a job and, without a job, he didn't have insurance. He decided he should wait to see the doctor. So, he got a job and the day his insurance kicked in, he woke up and couldn't move his neck at all.

They took him to St. Luke's in New York and discovered he had a tumor on his c1 vertebra. A sensitive spot. Worse, it was inside his spine. If they operated, he risked being paralyzed for the rest of his life. Or dying. If they didn't operate, he faced the same odds. The doctors operated but had to remove his c1 vertebra and place a rod in his spine. He can't turn his neck anymore. Today Sean called him to see how he was doing. The doctors performed a biopsy. Chrispy has bone cancer. Bone cancer! This isn't suppose to happen. He's only 22. How can this be? He'll need radiation and we're not sure what else. At 22, people are in the prime of their life. No, it's so not fair!

All those little gizmos that make our lives easier are squat next to a human life. We can fix the air conditioner and the washing machine. We can replace the garage door opener and the weed whacker. Human lives are harder, though. We just hope and pray Chrispy will pull through this.