IT DIED TODAY

This evening I had a significant event (if you can call it that) happen. I call it my little catastrophe. No easy dinner for me tonight. Old fashioned cooking on the stove came back in style in my house. I don't do that often.

My microwave oven died. Tomorrow I will give it a decent burial – the trash. There was no saving it – no revival.

I cook most everything in the microwave, and a few things in a crock pot. Eggs, grilled cheese, and pancakes still get cooked on the stove.

I was ready to put an old fashioned Chicken Pot Pie in the microwave. I heard a popping sound and a burning smell right away and stopped the cycle by hitting the stop button immediately. When I removed the glass tray and the round rubber piece that makes the tray turn, I noticed that the bottom of the inside was severely cracked. It looked like a hole had opened up at the center of the cracks.

My microwave has lived a good life here. It has aged slowly but steadily. It was my mother's microwave for at LEAST three years before her death, and she's been gone seven years. It was well cared for and cleaned regularly for 10 or 11 years.

Tomorrow I will go shopping to see if I can find a reasonably priced replacement. A microwave is something I just won't live without. I have too many items in my freezer that are microwaveable only. Microwaves have become a staple in most kitchens in America. It makes cooking faster and simpler for busy people, and seniors. I prefer a microwaved baked potato to one cooked in the oven for 45 minutes (which also heats up the kitchen).

Last year the ice maker on my refrigerator broke. The plastic piece that come directly out of the unit in the freezer broke at the hose connection. I have not had the money for the Sears service call to fix it. So instead, I buy bags of ice, which last several weeks. I just fill the ice reservoir and the door dispenser still works fine. (It was also my mother's refrigerator for many years.) Living in a rented duplex before moving into the family home, I didn't have my own refrigerator or stove.

I will live with a broken ice maker, but I won't live without a good microwave! Life happens and we adapt the best we can. As long as I can keep my good mood and keep smiling, everything will be fine.