I was on vacation last week taking care of my wife, who had rotator cuff surgery. The arthroscopic surgery was amazing. Check-in to check-out was about four hours. However, recovery shows how much we take things for granted.

Since my wife is right handed, and it was her right rotator cuff that was repaired, daily life for her has been, well, a challenge.

The first night after surgery she wanted chicken noodle soup. Turns out it’s difficult to corral noodles with an uncooperative left hand. Future meals quickly shifted to include things she could stab.

Dessert, it turns out, can go a long way to help keep spirits up. The go-to choice has been a Drumstick ice cream cone, which even a left hand can handle.

Finally, favorite clothes now take a back seat to those that can go on easily with one hand.

Other observations

• I see that Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, has come out against universal background checks for people who want to buy guns. He calls it an “unworkable universal federal nightmare bureaucracy.” It’s interesting how he was in support of the idea in 1999 after the Columbine massacre.
• People are concerned that the U.S.Postal Service no long will deliver letters on Saturday, beginning this August. I am, too, but only because the postal service picked the wrong day. It should be Tuesday, when most of the junk mail seems to arrive in my mailbox.
• The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was this week and, as a fan, I find myself more conscious of all things canine. So, I liked this sticker on the back of an SUV: “You had me at woof.”

– Craig Groshart, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter