Suppose

Today was the first day of 2006. It rained. I did not mind as this gave me ample justification to do absolutely nothing. Originally, I had planned to explore and take some photographs (I have yet to really go out and do much photographing of LA, something that I have been meaning to accomplish, and something that I promise to do soon), but really the idea of spending the day in and out of the rain did not provide the proper motivation to get up and go (although the sky would have been good for b&w’s). What I did do was watch a lot of television; I’m quite good at this. However, watching a lot of television does not necessarily provide for interesting blog posts, so instead I will use this opportunity to post a short piece I wrote not too long ago entitled, “Suppose.” Enjoy.

Suppose

Suppose your wife, 7 months pregnant, is rushed to the hospital in the middle of the afternoon. You, working, are called, and immediately drop everything in order to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Suppose that upon your arrival a doctor comes to find you and tells you to sit down, the look on his face already revealing the severity of the words that are about to follow. Suppose he tells you that you have to make a choice, either they can save your wife or the unborn child. Who do you save?

Suppose further that he tells you that you do not have time to consider the question for very long, as the longer they wait the greater the likelihood that neither will be able to be saved. What then? Suppose you say to the doctor save your wife, and he does, but in saving her there are complications that prevent her from ever conceiving another child. Suppose that you could know that there would be these complications before you made your decision, and that there is nothing more in this world that you want than to be a father. Does this change anything? Suppose your only brother died when he was 19 and you were 16, and on that day your grandfather made you swear to him that you would have as many children as necessary until you had a son. This was because he, your grandfather, was the only one of 8 siblings to make it out of Europe before the Holocaust wiped out the rest of his family almost destroying your family’s name, and before he left his grandfather, your great-great grandfather, made him, your grandfather, swear the same. How bout now?

Suppose I were to tell you that there was a chance, lets say 50%, that if you decided to save your wife, eventually, after her recovery, she would leave you because the pain of seeing your face every day was too constant a reminder of the child that has been lost. Would this change your decision? Suppose the chance was greater, let’s say 85%. Would this have any affect? What if it was guaranteed, 100% certain she would leave you. Is this enough to change your mind? Suppose your wife didn’t leave you in that manner, but rather killed herself because the pain was too much to bare. Suppose in her suicide note she told you that if she had been given the choice she would have chosen the child, and now she can’t live with herself knowing that her life was spared only because her child was allowed to die. Try to imagine the unbelievable amount of pain and suffering this would bring you. Suppose you were able to know all this at the time.

Suppose, however, your wife didn’t kill herself, but she did leave you, and within 6 months was engaged to someone else. Would this change what you would say? Suppose you knew she had been cheating on you all along and planned to leave you as soon as the baby was born. What kind of impact would this have on your decision-making process, would this be enough to cause you to change your mind? Suppose that not only did you know that she was cheating, but that the paternity of the child could be questioned. Suppose you were relatively certain, no suppose that you were absolutely certain that the child was not yours. What then? Who do you save now?

I do not wish for you to ever find yourself in such a circumstance, in fact, I pray that you do not. I merely pose these questions for you to consider so that you may be prepared no matter what the future might hold. In the off chance that any of this should occur, it’s probably best if you have given it some thought.