My MacGyver

Is anyone out there old enough to have watched the show MacGyver? I don't know if any of my kids have watched it, but they know about it because MacGyver is my nickname for their Dad. On the show, MacGyver could set off a bomb with silly putty or diffuse one with a paperclip, he could trip up a laser security system with cigarettes and a pair of binoculars - I think you get my drift. Of course Greg's life is not as dangerous or exciting as MacGyver's so those skills are rarely necessary, but still, when there is a problem to solve he knows how to get the job done.

My favorite example of this happened about 10 years ago. It was a very hectic day. We had cousins visiting from out of town, the boat needed to be picked up from the shop, and we were trying to stay in contact with my mom because my grandfather was dying. I spent the day running around with all of the kids and was supposed to meet Greg at the boat shop in the late afternoon because I had the car with the trailor hitch. Communication was a problem because I had the only working cell phone, the phone is Greg's car had been dead for weeks. As I was maneuvering through rush hour traffic with a Suburban full of niosy children my phone rang, it was Greg. Knowing that the boat shop was closed (they had left the boat in the parking lot for our after hours pickup) I was surprised to hear his voice. I asked how he got the cell phone to work and he casually replied that he had found a piece of wire in the parking lot and had fiddled around until he got a signal. Of course - who doesn't know how to do that?

We made our connection, swapped cars and headed home. Halfway there Greg called me (this time I had the broken phone) to say my mom had called on the other phone to tell us that Papa had taken a turn for the worse. Thanks to my McGyver we were able to turn around and make it to his house in time to say our good-byes before he died.

I have been thinking about this for the past couple of days because last weekend he puppy-proofed our garden hose using electrical conduit, dish soap and some baling wire. Things get done at our house!