If it’s in the way, it’s part of the way

Appendicitis saved my marriage.

Maybe I should explain: On November 8, 1944, the submarine USS Growler, on its eleventh war patrol, attacked a Japanese convoy in the South Pacific. No one knows the exact sequence of events, but we do know that in the battle the Growler sank, and all hands were lost.

Except one. Albert T. Holsclaw, known to most as Buster, was not in the engine room of the Growler on that fateful day. Suffering from appendicitis, he had been dropped off at a base for an appendectomy. By the grace of appendicitis, he survived, and ultimately survived the war. By the grace of appendicitis, he returned to Hazard, Kentucky (yes, that Hazard, as in the Dukes of Hazard), met Geraldine Mattingly, and they were married. By the grace of appendicitis, their first child, Debbie, grew into the beautiful woman who became my wife. By the grace of appendicitis, here we are 51 years of marriage later. So let's hear it for appendicitis and long-lasting love — yay! You never know when the seemingly bad is going to turn out to be oh-so good. 

Or how the bad turn in the creative writing process is going to morph. If it's in the way, it's part of the way. Write on!

Photo: The sole survivor of the Growler's eleventh patrol, Buster Holsclaw (on the right) at a WWII Growler reunion.