A.A.A. #2

D., a paramedic and W.’s grandson, met him at the hospital while he was halfway through the surgery. He had heard the name of the condition, and knew that it was likely his grandfather would die in the night. He spoke with the nurses, and they lamented the situation W. found himself in. A heavy smoker. Stomach cancer. Poor diet. D. had known these qualities of his grandfather, and had little hope that he would make a recovery. When the chief surgeon of the hospital had finished the surgery, he approached D. and said three words: “It’s a miracle.”

D. thought of W.’s parents—two people who immigrated to the U.S. and lived difficult lives. His father had lived to 100. His mother died a week shy of it. There was a strand of DNA in their lineage that strived for life. He thought, too, of W.’s wife, a lifelong smoker with zero damage to her lungs. How bizarre, he thought, to live against all the rules. Perhaps there were other things that encouraged a prolonged life. There was little time to consider the ramifications of this discovery; he had several phone calls to make.