Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Buy a nose!

1963. Late August or early September. Dumont, New Jersey. A high school football scrimmage between Ridgewood and Dumont. A line man grabs a face mask and pulls it down. A back runs up and throws a punch. That was the first of a number of broken noses. Dr. Tomlins straightened it, taped it and sent the nose back into the game. The worst came a year and a month or two later. During practice a team mate caught the running back but couldn’t bring him down. The owner of the oft injured proboscis arrived to assist and was welcomed with an elbow to the nose. The bones shattered and one pierced the skin. The result was a blockage. Through the years the blockage became progressively more pronounced. In conjunction with that progression a night’s sleep became increasingly rare.

44 years later and after almost 30 years of marriage Sandy was inspired to suggest that the old nose receive the attention of the medical profession. Perhaps something could done. It could. The nose was painlessly repaired. Oxygen reached places untouched for years. Best of all, night after night of uninterrupted sleep. Life is so good. Thank you, Sandy. Thank you, doctor. Thank you, God.
This picture was taken after the surgery. The young man is Philip Kingsley.