De Profundis, or maybe Day Profundis

Today a friend of ours underwent surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta to have the aortic valve in her heart replaced with one that came from a pig. This is the same operation that Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Lewis Grizzard had a few years back and then wrote about in a book entitled They Tore Out My Heart And Stomped That Sucker Flat. Lewis wrote several books over the years and for my money their titles were the best thing about them. For example, one of his books was called Shoot Low, Boys, They're Riding Shetland Ponies and another was called Don't Bend Over In The Garden, Granny, You Know Them Taters Got Eyes. I went to the hospital and sat with our friend's husband and daughter during the hours they spent in the surgical waiting room. I'm happy to report that the operation was a resounding success. I had almost forgotten what rush hour in Atlanta is like, but today brought it all back.

Before I went to the hospital, I drove over to Woodstock to tend to the morning needs of Sharpie, my son's two-year-old black Labrador. Sharpie's needs are pretty basic; they include being fed, being petted and talked baby talk to profusely, and being let outside to run and do the things every dog has to do. This evening, after I returned home from the hospital, I drove back over to Woodstock to take care of Sharpie's evening needs. These, oddly enough, are very similar to his morning needs. More than very similar. Actually the correct phrase is "indistinguishable from." I get to do this through Saturday because my son and his family decided to go on a quick vacation to Clearwater, Florida, while the schools around here are closed for five days for mid-winter break. Unplanned vacations are possible in my son's family because he and his wife are self-employed fauxers of doors and are able to set their own work schedules. You might not believe it, but fauxing of doors is very big in upscale neighborhoods hereabouts, almost as big as owning black Labradors. Unplanned dog-sitting and visits to hospitals are possible in my own family because my wife and I are both retired.

The point of this post is to remind us, one and all, that life is what happens to you while you are making other plans. Or, put a little differently, as life goes on, life goes on.

This is probably my most profound post yet.